March 16, 2010: Oncology Medication Safety Self-Assessment
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada), the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP; US), and the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) will begin development of a new self-assessment program to help hospitals and ambulatory cancer centres throughout the world to evaluate oncology medication safety.Chemotherapy agents used in cancer treatment are considered to be “high-alert” drugs which are more likely to cause patient harm when involved in an error. The self-assessment will help healthcare organizations to examine their use of these medications by evaluating practices and processes related to patient information, communication, environment, and other key elements of safe medication use.
As with the other medication safety self-assessments (e.g., for hospitals, for long-term care, for community/ambulatory pharmacy, and checklist for the operating room), healthcare organizations will be asked to convene multidisciplinary teams to complete the assessment and invited to submit data through a secure web-based program. Respondents will then be able to compare their findings with aggregate data from demographically similar organizations.
An international group of safety experts will assist with the development, design, and launch of the self-assessment program, which is planned for early 2011.
The oncology medication safety self-assessment is being supported through a grant from ISOPP to ISMP and ISMP Canada. The Clinical Excellence Commission of New South Wales and the Cancer Institute of New South Wales will also provide grant support and expertise to this project. ISOPP received private sector support from Baxter Corporation, ICU Medical, Inc., Pfizer Oncology, and Roche.
For more information, please call ISMP Canada at 1-866-544-7672 or send an email message to info@ismp-canada.org
