Improving medication safety: focus on prescribers and systems

Improving patient safety by improving medication communication.

Any time that information about a patient's medication is communicated, there is a potential for error that occurs because of misinterpretation of abbreviations, acronyms, and dose designations. In the following discussion, corrective approaches for reducing the use of error-prone terms will be reviewed. Terms on the "Do Not Use" list are identified and the rationale for using "Tall Man" letter...

Building a safer NHS for patients IMPROVING MEDICATION SAFETY Building a safer NHS for patients IMPROVING MEDICATION SAFETY

Intravenous Medication Safety and Smart Infusion Systems

Carol A. Keohane is Project Director for the Center of Excellence for Patient Safety Research and Practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass. The Center’s efforts are aimed at improving medication safety across clinical settings. Judy Hayes is the Director of Professional Practice Quality and Staff Development at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Ms Hayes is considered a leader in imple...

Improving medication safety: the measurement conundrum and where to start.

The use of medication remains the most common intervention in health care. The complexity of both medication use and the medication management process, especially in the in-patient setting, create a significant risk for hospitalized patients. Despite the widespread recognition of the hazards that medication use poses to patients, there are no widely accepted or standardized methods to measure t...

Improving Prescribers to Advance Antimicrobial Stewardship

In an era of ever-increasing antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial stewardship plays a vital role in improving patient outcomes and ensuring the appropriate use of these agents. In this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Hamilton et al acknowledge that most formalized antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) do not currently employ a routine intervention with the antibiotic prescriber at th...