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Pharmacy systems
Moves afoot to bar-code all
medications in Canada
 TORONTO – A
pan-Canadian initiative was announced this month that will ultimately
have a major impact on patient safety by reducing preventable medication
errors.
In collaboration with pharmacy supply chain stakeholders, the Institute
for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP Canada) and the Canadian Patient
Safety Institute (CPSI) have launched a national project to promote
automated drug identification in Canada using GS1 global bar-coding
standards.
“Relying only on human vigilance to ensure medication safety is not
enough; better use of available technology will be important in the 21st
century,” said David U, President and CEO, ISMP Canada. “With over
30,000 commercial drug products in the marketplace, there is a
significant and overdue need for a coordinated approach to bar coding
pharmaceuticals in order to enable automated identification throughout
the Canadian healthcare system.”
Collaboration between ISMP Canada, CPSI, GS1 Canada and healthcare
industry stakeholders has resulted in a national consensus on using GS1
bar codes as the standard format for labeling medication packaging in
Canada.
“Automatic identification such as bar coding adds a layer of safety to
our medication use system. It is one of the safest ways to track
pharmaceutical products through the supply chain; from the point of
manufacturing, to administering medication to patients,” said Alicia
Duval, Senior Vice-President, Healthcare, GS1 Canada.
“By using machine-readable bar codes, healthcare practitioners and
organizations will improve internal efficiencies, and more importantly
improve patient safety,” she said. “In order for this to become a
reality, bar codes must be deployed in a standard format on all
medication packaging, and readable by health-system scanners and
software. The GS1 system of standards enables this interoperability.”
Serious medication adverse events causing permanent disabilities or
death occur in Canadian hospitals as shown in the 2004 Ross Baker and
Peter Norton study. In the study, they estimated that 7.5% of national
hospital admissions involved an adverse event, and 20% of these adverse
events resulted in death of the patient. Of these events, the second
highest cause was medication or fluid therapies. Baker and Norton also
found that approximately 37% were preventable.
“Changes in practice need to occur at the national, provincial and local
levels to promote a more collaborative and standardized approach to
medication traceability to keep Canadian patients safe, while retaining
current supply chain efficiencies,” said Pierrette Leonard (pictured
above), Senior Leader, National Partners, CPSI. “In working with GS1 and
with the success of creating a Joint Technical Statement with over 34
organizations representing six healthcare sectors, we are one step
closer to achieving this objective.”
The goal of both ISMP Canada and CPSI, along with all healthcare
partners, is to reduce preventable medication errors affecting patients
in both institutional and community settings.
About Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI)
The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) is an independent
not-for-profit corporation, operating collaboratively with health
professionals and organizations, regulatory bodies and governments to
build and advance a safer healthcare system for Canadians. CPSI performs
a coordinating and leadership role across health sectors and systems,
promotes leading practices and raises awareness with stakeholders,
patients and the general public about patient safety.
www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca
About the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP
Canada)
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) is an
independent national not-for-profit agency committed to the advancement
of medication safety in all health care settings. ISMP Canada works
collaboratively with the health care community, regulatory agencies and
policy makers, provincial, national, and international patient safety
organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, and the public to promote
safe medication practices. ISMP Canada’s mandate includes receiving and
analyzing medication incident and near-miss reports, identifying
contributing factors and causes and making recommendations for the
prevention of harmful medication incidents.
www.ismp-canada.org/
About GS1 Canada
GS1 Canada is a member of GS1, the world’s leading supply chain
standards organization. As a neutral, not-for-profit organization, GS1
Canada enables its more than 10,000 members - trading partners of all
sizes from over 20 sectors across Canada - to enhance their efficiency
and cost effectiveness by adopting electronic supply chain best
practices. Learn more at www.gs1ca.org.
Published February 11,2010
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