U.S. hospitals encouraged to improve high-alert med safety procedures with self-assessment tool

In the U.S., high-alert medications are identified subjectively through national safety organizations, error reporting, expert consensus and literature. To improve the situation, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) developed a tool to help hospitals, long-term care facilities and outpatient facilities evaluate best practices related to high-alert medications. The tool also aims to identify opportunities for improvement and track experiences over time. After completing the assessment, participants are encouraged to submit their findings to ISMP via a secure internet portal and in turn see how they compare to demographically similar organizations through a score, giving them an opportunity to improve their own score. The tool focuses on general high-alert medications and 11 specific medication categories