The nonprofit Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has begun to publish a list of priority concerns to help guide risk managers and others in their work to prevent medication errors.
The quarterly ISMP Action Agenda for Medication Error Prevention is believed to be the first regularly published summary of its kind in the United States that is targeted to risk managers and health care professionals who participate on pharmacy and therapeutics committees. It will be sent electronically and by mail to subscribers of ISMP Medication Safety Alert!, the organization's newsletter.
Items in the current quarter's summary address errors associated with look-alike drug names and packaging, storage and dosing problems, and other concerns. The ISMP's information on medication errors is based on the US Pharmacopoeia's Medication Errors Reporting Program, the Food and Drug Administration's MEDWATCH program, the medical literature, and other sources.
