Identify and review at least yearly a list of look-alike, sound-alike drugs used in the hospital and take action to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs.What It Means
Medications that are easy to confuse (for example, drugs that look or sound similar, or reagents and chemicals that may be mistaken for medications) are kept separate from other medications. The hospital is responsible for developing its own list of high-risk or high-alert drugs, and its own internal data about medication errors and sentinel events.
Why It Is Important
Accurate medication management is an important component in the treatment of many diseases. A wrong medication can be given to a patient by accident and result in a serious negative event for the patient. Developing procedures to prevent these kinds of errors from happening is critical for ensuring patient safety.