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How to pick 10 look-alike, sound-alike drug names from the JCAHO-mandated list

Pharmacy Regulation Resource, September 29, 2004

Be sure that your directory of look-alike and sound-alike drug pairs has at least 10 from the JCAHO-mandated list released in August. Surveyors may look for this to verify compliance with a new National Patient Safety Goal requirement to reduce errors from the dangerous drug pairs.

Hospitals must choose at least five drug pairs from Table I of the JCAHO's list. Another five may come from Tables I, II, or III. Table II is for ambulatory care and other settings, and Table III is a list of additional problematic drug names.

Go to www.jcaho.org and click on the National Patient Safety Goals link to check out the list and intervention tips.

Hospitals must compile this list by January 1, 2005, the same day the 2005 National Patient Safety Goals take effect, according to the JCAHO. Organizations need to act now to ensure compliance by the end of the year, says Bud Pate, REHS, director of clinical operations improvement for the Marblehead, MA-based The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro.

If organizations created their own lists and do not have 10 JCAHO-mandated pairs on them, they may submit a request before January 1, 2005, for an alternate approach to the goals, Pate says. However, a source with the JCAHO says the chances of getting an alternative compliance approach approved are "slim" because the goal's intent is to achieve consistency across the industry.

To download a request for an alternate approach to the goals, go to the Web site mentioned above.

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