Topic outline
Adverse Drug Events
Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship
Antibiotics have transformed the practice of medicine, making once lethal infections readily treatable and making other medical advances, like cancer chemotherapy and organ transplants, possible. However, 20–50% of all antibiotics prescribed in U.S. acute care hospitals are either unnecessary or inappropriate.
Disposal of Unused Medicines - FDA video - 5 minutes
FDA Drug Info Rounds pharmacists discuss medication disposal options and some special disposal instructions for you to consider when throwing out expired, unwanted, or unused medicines.
Do Not Use Abbreviations
Organizations should attempt to eliminate the use of dangerous abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations from software.
Drug Safety and Availability - FDA4 - FDA
Explicit and Standardized Prescription Medicine Instructions - 5 Languages - AHRQ
Explicit, standardized instructions improve patients’ understanding, and possibly reduce errors while improving adherence. These instructions have also been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
Medication Safety - Tools for Safe Medication Practice
- This topic
Medications at Transitions and Adherence
Medication Therapy Management Interventions in Outpatient Settings - AHRQ 553 pages
Too often, however, medications are not used appropriately. Even when optimal therapy is prescribed, patient inability to adhere closely to medication regimens may lead to poor health outcomes.
Medication Identification Tool & Drug Information Portal
Medication Identification Tool & Drug Information Portal
U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention
The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a scientific nonprofit organization that sets standards for the identity, strength, quality, and purity of medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements manufactured, distributed and consumed worldwide. USP’s drug standards are enforceable in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration, and these standards are used in more than 140 countries.