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Tips to comply with the JCAHO's recently updated look-alike/ sound-alike medication list

Briefings on The Joint Commission, December 1, 2006

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The Joint Commission recently released an updated list of look-alike/sound-alike (LASA) medications that hospitals can use to comply with National Patient Safety Goal #3c (medication safety).

Originally issued in 2004, the LASA list was compiled with input from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the Food and Drug Administration, and the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System.

The list, which was updated in August, is comprised of medication name pairs that could be confused by caregivers, and includes a table for hospitals and other settings.

If you have not yet examined the updated LASA list, it may be viewed on the Joint Commission's Web site (click the "Patient Safety" tab on the homepage and select "National Patient Safety Goals" from the drop-down menu).

It's easy to confuse LASA drug names. There are several reasons why staff mistake one drug for another, such as illegible handwriting, lack of knowledge about drug names, computerized physician order entry systems that list drug names alphabetically, or drug shortages that lead to the purchase of a drug that arrives in similar packaging to another that's already in stock.

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Briefings on The Joint Commission.

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