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Do Not Use List

ISMP Canada, Accreditation Canada, and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (now Healthcare Excellence Canada) collaborate with organizations to eliminate the use of dangerous abbreviations, symbols and dose designations in health care to improve the safety of Canadian patients.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

TALLman Lettering

TALLman lettering is a method of applying upper-case lettering to sections of LASA drug names as a differentiation strategy.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

Medication Safety Self-Assessment® (MSSA)

Medication Safety Self-Assessments® (MSSAs) are designed to:

• Evaluate the safety of your medication system
• Identify vulnerabilities and opportunities for improvement
• Increase awareness of safe medication system characteristics
• Monitor progress over time

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

Opioid Stewardship

Opioid medications are used to treat pain. Opioids are also known as narcotics. In recent years more and more Canadians are using opioids, and research indicates that we are now the world's second largest consumer of opioids. Along with this increased use of opioids there has also been a corresponding and alarming increase in the harm from opioids.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

Med Safety Exchange

Join your colleagues across Canada for complimentary 50-minute webinars to share, learn and discuss incident reports, trends and emerging issues in medication safety!

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Definitions of Terms

This glossary provides definitions for a minimum number of terms that are considered essential to the discussion of Medication Incidents in the context of a Canadian medication incident reporting and prevention system today. Revisiting the selected definitions will be required periodically to align with national and international patient safety initiatives as they develop.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project

In an effort to increase medication safety, members of the healthcare industry are collaborating to implement standardized bar codes on pharmaceutical products which have been approved for use in Canada. Headed jointly by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), this national initiative was guided by an advisory Implementation Committee with technical requirements developed with assistance from a Technical Task Force (TTF), representing six identified healthcare sectors.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

Medication Reconciliation (MedRec)

Healthcare providers work together with patients, families and care providers to ensure accurate and comprehensive medication information is communicated consistently across transitions of care

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

5 Questions to Ask About Your Medications

Patients are at high risk of fragmented care, adverse drug events, and medication errors during transitions of care. Ensuring safe medication transitions is complex. It requires patients to be an active partner in their health to ensure that they have the information they need to use their medications safely.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Medication Incident and Near Miss Reporting Programs

Share your story about medication safety so that we can collect, aggregate, and analyze these lived experiences for sharing and action.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Incident Analysis

To effectively improve medication safety in a healthcare setting, it is important to recognize and understand what medication errors or incidents are occurring and why. This framework provides a standardized approach to analyze incidents, including but not limited to medication incidents, and identifies strategies for implementing system improvements.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

World Patient Safety Day 2022

ISMP Canada is pleased to collaborate with the World Health Organization (WHO) on developing and implementing the Medication Without Harm Global Patient Safety Challenge. World Patient Safety Day 2022 (WPSD 2022) provides an important opportunity locally, provincially, nationally, and globally to raise awareness, engagement, empowerment, and action for improving medication safety!

Join us in acknowledging this important day and advancing medication safety across Canada.

Information includes:
- Invitation to the Med Safety Exchange Webinar on WPSD 2022, September 15
- Resources for engaging in the day and sharing the information with others

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Canadian Incident Analysis Framework

To effectively improve medication safety in a healthcare setting, it is important to recognize and understand what medication errors or incidents are occurring and why. With this knowledge, the next step is to determine what evidence-based actions should be taken to reduce the risk of the same or similar incident reoccurring.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

High-Alert Medications List

High-alert medications are drugs that bear a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when they are used in error.
https://ismpcanada.ca/resource/definitions-of-terms/

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Incident Reporting

Incident reporting through Medication Incident and Near Miss Reporting Programs or Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS).

Hierarchy of Effectiveness

The reporting, investigation, and analysis of medication incidents are important elements in improving patient safety, and these efforts must be accompanied by effective strategies that address the contributing factors or vulnerabilities leading to the incidents.

Certain types of risk-mitigation strategies are known to be more effective than others, as illustrated by the Hierarchy of Effectiveness.

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers

Improving the Best Possible Medication History Interview Guide for Patients, Caregivers and Health Care providers

ISMP Canada along with GeriMedRisk is embarking on a journey to improve the best possible medication interview guide which is used by health care providers to gather medication information from patients and/or caregivers. 

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers

Canadian Medication Safety Network

The Canadian Medication Safety Network raises the voice of consumers and health care providers about medication safety issues as well as opportunities for improvement!

Suggested Audience:
Health Care Providers, Consumers