Patient safety

Dr Chang finishes this activity with technologies that help to manage formulary and how PTC maintains prescription safety.

Key points

Technology can be used to aid formulary maintenance. Applications can be incorporated into the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system allowing physicians to check electronic formulary, the package inserts, and drug appearance and classifications easily. There are also error-proofing mechanisms.

The PTC should systematically address patient safety as part of deliberations.

They should:

• Carry out medication evaluation, including the adverse effects, issues in preparation, sound-alike or lookalike potential, and dosing or administration issues.

• Proactively assess risk in medication-use processes. Failure mode and effects analysis can be used to structure these assessments.

• The P&T committee should consistently review medication-event data, including data on near misses, and make recommendations to prevent future events.

• Conduct targeted quality improvement projects to improve the safety of specific medications or to evaluate the processes involved.

• Access potential risks in policies.

• Provide evidence-based fail-safe techniques.

• Keep updated with patient safety information or events reported by other organizations.

Share and learn:

How is technology applied in your hospital to implement PTC policies?

Looking at the list of responsibilities on patient safety, have you ever carried out any of these initiatives?