What is Medication Safety?
Medications are the most common treatment intervention used in healthcare around the world. When used safely and appropriately, they contribute to significant improvements in the health and well-being of patients.
Medication safety is defined as freedom from preventable harm with medication use (ISMP Canada, 2007). Medication safety issues can impact health outcomes, length of stay in a healthcare facility, readmission rates, and overall costs to Canada's healthcare system.
Medication Safety at Care Transitions: Safety Improvement Project – An 18-month learning collaborative
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute launched its Medication Safety- Safety Improvement Project in April 2019. This learning collaborative approach was delivered by expert faculty and coaches, with mentoring provided over 18 months. Participating teams learned and applied strategies to decrease readmissions related to medication safety issues at discharge among frail patients.
Participant Learned:
- To identify Frail clients who are at risk for medication safety issues,
- How to apply new processes for medication management at discharge,
- How to utilize Knowledge Translation and Implementation Science techniques to successfully implement and sustain new evidence-based practices for medication safety at transitions,
- To share key learnings and challenges, and networking with colleagues across Canada,
- Accessing, sharing and adopting advanced patient safety knowledge, tools, and resources within a learning network,
- Improving the team's approach to patient safety while taking action to deliver safer care.
If you didn't have an opportunity to participate in the implementation collaborative, you can still access free resources below
