A Lot Happens When You Report a Hazard or Error to ISMP—There’s No ‘Black Hole’ Here!
When ISMP receives a hazard or error report, it is entered into one of our databases and initially reviewed by an ISMP nurse or pharmacy technician analyst. Since most reports submitted to ISMP include the reporter’s email address, ISMP sends an email to the reporter to confirm receipt of the report and to thank him or her for reporting.
Full Transparency Is the Key to Stopping Drug Diversion in Healthcare Settings
Drug diversion costs the healthcare industry more than $70 billion per year, according to one estimate, and some researchers say as many as 10% of all medical professionals will divert drugs from their workplace at some point in their career.
Medicaid Expansion Linked to Fewer Opioid Deaths
Researchers NYU Grossman School of Medicine and University of California, Davis, analyzed cause-of-death data from the National Vital Statistics System from 3,109 counties nationwide between 2001 and 2017.
Report: Follow Protocols to Help Fight Opioid Addictions
Healthcare providers in U.S. hospitals bear the brunt of the epidemic as they deal with the medical consequences of opioid addiction. From 1999 to 2017, Coverys says, more than 700,000 people died as a result of the opioid epidemic and the number of opioid-related overdoses grew sixfold.
Published Review of Independent Double Checks Shouldn’t Dissuade Providers From Using Them Judiciously
ISMP respectfully concludes that little evidence was provided that should cause healthcare providers to abandon the use of judicious and well-placed independent double checks for selected high-alert medications. Instead, ISMP continues to believe that the selective and proper use of manual independent double checks plays an important role in medication safety.
Machine Learning and NLP Improve Medication Reconciliation, Patient Safety
In late 2018, KDMC sought to improve patient safety and streamline the medication reconciliation process by automating EHR transcription of critical medication data. The solution KDMC came up with has contributed to increased patient safety and better health outcomes, as well as higher nurse productivity.
Promising Data on Opioids Detracts From Ongoing Problem: Postsurgical Dependence
U.S. overdose deaths—67.8% of which involve opioids—decreased last year for the first time in nearly three decades and are projected to decline another 3.4% this year. Other data show opioids are prescribed less often, and at lower dosages, than in the past.
Opioid Epidemic Linked to $205B in Excess Healthcare Spending Over 4 Years
The $205 billion attributable to excess healthcare spending between 2015 and 2018 included providing medical care for opioid addicts and infants born with neonatal opioid-related conditions, and other family members bearing costs associated with those diagnoses.
Q&A: Tim Vanderveen Discusses Advances in IV Therapy
In this interview, Tim Vanderveen, PharmD, a consultant with ICU Medical, discusses IV therapy and its impact on patient safety.
Use New Delays to Catch Up to More Stringent USP Requirements
Because new USP <800> Hazardous Drugs—Handling in Healthcare Settings refers to the other chapters, it is considered by USP to be “informational only” until the revisions are final. The Joint Commission has said it will continue to survey hospitals to the current USP compounding chapters but will expect hospitals to meet the requirements of local AHJs, as always.