NEWS RELEASE - Bar coding for improved medication safety in Canada one step closer - read the News Release

Designing a National Strategy for Healthcare

In an effort to increase patient safety, members of the healthcare industry are collaborating to implement standardized bar codes on all aspects of pharmaceutical labelling.

Headed jointly by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), the initiative is guided by a national Implementation Committee and being developed with assistance from a 34-member Technical Task Force (TTF), representing six identified healthcare sectors.

ISMP Canada and CPSI jointly endorsed the adoption of the GS1 global standard for automated identification (e.g., bar coding) of pharmaceutical products in Canada.

The multiphase project has developed draft technical requirements for Canadian pharmaceuticals in the following areas: bar code components and symbologies, product database elements, medications to be included in the categories to be bar coded, and packaging levels and bar code placement.

The document is entitled "Joint Technical Statement on Canadian Pharmaceutical Automated Identification and Product Data Requirements", and will be released in February 2010.

Share this project with your colleagues and organizations.

• Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
• Retail Pharmacies
• Institutional Pharmacies
• Professional Practice Organizations
• Healthcare Solution Providers
• Supply Chain and Public Purchasing Organizations

• To identify and contact stakeholders in all Canadian health sectors.
• To assure they are aware of the two joint statements, and to seek their support.
• To affect knowledge transfer to all healthcare workers in each sector, and the public.
• To continue the collaborative environment to promote practice evolution using bar coding.
• To develop a sustainability strategy to assure the long-term adoption of the joint technical statement components.

• Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Uptake
• Health Solution Provider Technology Uptake
• Professional Practice and Safety Organizations' Support
• Governmental and Health Quality Council Support
• Public Purchasing Organizations' Contracting Support
• Guidelines for placement of bar code

• NEWS RELEASE - Bar coding for improved medication safety in Canada one step closer
• The Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project Brochure
• Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project Conference Poster

• ISMP Canada and Canadian Patient Safety Institute Team Up with GS1 Canada to Advance Patient Safety in Canada
• ISMP Canada and CPSI Endorsement of GS1 Global Standard
• Implementation Committee and Technical Task Force Schematic
• Implementation Committee Terms of Reference March 2009
• Pharmaceutical Bar Coding: Moving Forward in Canada (Bulletin)
• Joint Barcoding Project Plan

• Pharmaceutical Bar Coding to Improve Patient Safety: Options for Technical Standards in the Canadian Environment (Proceedings of a Stakeholder Invitational Roundtable, June 2008)
• Pharmaceutical Bar Coding to Improve Patient Safety: Options for Technical Standards in the Canadian Environment (Roundtable Discussion Paper, January 2008)