ISMP has introduced a new tool to help hospitals, long-term care facilities, and certain outpatient facilities evaluate their best practices related to high-alert medications, identify opportunities for improvement, and track their experiences over time. The ISMP Medication Safety Self Assessment® for High-Alert Medications focuses on general high-alert medications and 11 specific medication categories--including opioids, insulin, neuromuscular blocking agents, chemotherapy, and moderate and minimal sedation. Participants who submit assessment findings to ISMP anonymously via a secure internet portal by December 15, 2017 will be able to obtain their weighted scores so they can compare themselves to demographically similar organizations. Participation also can help organizations meet requirements for managing high-alert medications from regulatory and accrediting agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission. To access the self assessment workbook, go to: http://www.ismp.org/selfassessments/SAHAM. 

At the recently held MSOS Member Meeting during the ASHP Medication Safety Collaborative in Minneapolis on June 4, 2017, a member shared an occurrence that happened in their facility.  The member believed that a defect in BD’s (Pyxis) MedStation ES software resulted in the misinterpretation of an order frequency intended to be every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as every day that was associated with a patient incident. David Swenson, Vice President, Clinical Strategy, Medical Affairs, Medication Management Systems at BD attended that meeting and publicly volunteered to investigate the report. David shared his investigation For the full message with an excerpt of his findings, please click on the title above.