USP Releases Patient Safety Book

Hospitals across the nation provided input for the United States Pharmacopeia's (USP) Advancing Patient Safety in U.S. Hospitals: Basic Strategies for Success. This first-ever case study book features actual hospital medication errors and steps implemented to prevent similar mistakes.

Aside from first-person experiences, USP offers 10 recommendations to improve medication safety in health facilities. The recommendations include the following:

• Adopt a nonpunitive policy for reporting potential and actual medication errors
• Create open lines of communication among departments and disciplines
• Provide incentives for participating in the medication-safety reporting system