July 28, 2008: Pharmaceutical Bar Coding to Improve Patient Safety
On January 24, 2008, a stakeholder invitational roundtable, co-chaired by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), was convened in Ottawa, Ontario, to discuss and seek consensus on voluntary guidelines for pharmaceutical manufacturers related to the use of bar codes for labelling medications at the unit-of-use packaging level. Before the meeting, ISMP Canada circulated a discussion paper entitled Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding to Improve Patient Safety: Options for Technical Standards in the Canadian Environment (available from http://www.ismp-canada.org/publications.htm ). The 40 participants represented a variety of organizations, professions, and interests. They worked in discussion groups to explore various aspects of bar coding for pharmaceutical labels, including the products to be bar-coded; packaging and placement of bar codes; and the content, format, and symbology of the bar codes themselves. There was overall agreement that a standard is urgently needed for bar coding of pharmaceutical products in Canada. A copy of the proceedings of the stakeholder invitational roundtable is also available from http://www.ismp-canada.org/publications.htm .ISMP Canada and CPSI will work together, in collaboration and consultation with stakeholders, to build on the results of the roundtable and to develop the next steps.
