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Medication Safety Self-Assessment Pilot : Focus on "Never Events" in Community Pharmacy Instructions

Instructions for Completing the Self-Assessment

1. Establish a team similar to the following:

  • Pharmacy owner/manager
  • Staff pharmacist(s)
  • Pharmacy technician(s)
  • Pharmacy assistant(s)
  • Pharmacy clerk(s)
  • Pharmacist/pharmacy technician student(s)

Other team members to consider:

  • Patient(s) of the pharmacy – to assist in evaluating items related to patient engagement and partnership
  • Prescriber(s) – to assist in evaluating items related to interprofessional communication/collaboration
  • Front-shop manager/supervisor
  • District manager in a corporate setting

2. Distribute the assessment document before the team meeting so that each team member can review and consider the questions in advance.

  • It is suggested that team members read and understand the definitions before reviewing the assessment.

3. At a team meeting, discuss each assessment item and evaluate the pharmacy's current success in implementing the item.

As necessary, investigate and verify the level of implementation for each item with other team members outside the assessment team.

Possible responses:

  1. A This item is fully implemented.
  2. B This item is fully implemented for some activities, patients, medications and/or staff in the pharmacy.
  3. C This item has been partially implemented for some activities, patients, medications and/or staff in the pharmacy.
  4. D This item has been formally discussed and considered but not implemented
  5. E There has been no activity to implement this item
  6. NA Not applicable – use this option if the assessment criterion does not apply to your pharmacy

Teams may wish to consider assigning an individual to record any discussion generated around each assessment item and the rationale behind the selected choice. This information, meant for internal use only, can assist the team when reviewing scores for individual items or completing a future assessment.

Scoring Guidelines:

For all assessment items:

  • All assessment items refer to activities undertaken within the pharmacy or by pharmacy team members, unless otherwise noted.
  • Choice of A (full implementation) is appropriate only if all team members agree that the item or action is reliably implemented (i.e., occurs in more than 90% of patient encounters). For items with multiple components, If only one or some of the components have been fully implemented, select C or D.

For assessment items that are not applicable to your pharmacy:

Some assessment items may not be applicable to all pharmacies; for these items, criteria for a "not applicable" response have been provided. For example, some pharmacies may not provide opioid agonist therapy and therefore there will be no associated risks.

4. Finalize your assessment.

You will be prompted to save your responses for each section before you proceed to the next section. When all responses have been entered, you will be prompted to "Check MSSA for errors" and then to submit your results.

Once you have submitted your results you cannot edit them. The web-based survey tool will immediately download the information into a secure database maintained solely by ISMP Canada. Individual results can be viewed or accessed only by the pharmacy submitting them. No data will be maintained on the Internet survey form after it has been submitted. Confidentiality is assured.

5. Print/view your completed assessment.

Once your results have been submitted you will be able to print a report summarizing your results.

6. Compare your results to the aggregate.

Once your results have been submitted you will immediately be able to compare your results to the aggregate response. You can compare to the total aggregate or to a subset (e.g., by province/territory or to demographically similar pharmacies), using the filters provided.

7. Using aggregate data

Pharmacies can freely share their own results internally and externally as they deem appropriate; however, any comparisons to aggregate data can only be shared externally with written permission from ISMP Canada.

ISMP Canada and CPSI may use aggregate data for research and education purposes.