Patient Safety Organization Supports Pharmacy Ethics

Patient Safety Organization Supports Pharmacy Ethics

APMS and PEER working together!

Owings Mills, MD — December 1, 2021 — Today the Alliance for Patient Medication Safety (APMS) and Pharmacy Ethics, Education & Resources (PEER) announced a partnership to provide APMS members with complimentary continuing education modules provided by PEER.

APMS

The mission of APMS Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is to foster a culture of quality within the profession of pharmacy that promotes a continuous systems analysis to develop best practices that will reduce medication errors, improve medication use and enhance patient care. Pharmacies work with APMS® to look for inherent risks in the pharmacy’s workflow. Their program, Pharmacy Quality Commitment +^TM (PQC+) is an interactive CQI program that provides tools and resources for the pharmacy workforce to identify, report, and analyze quality-related patient safety events.

APMS PSO has been a federally listed Patient Safety Organization (PSO), since 2008. The 2005 Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act provided for the creation of patient safety organizations or PSOs. The intention of the law is to encourage healthcare organizations to collect, report, study errors and subsequently share those findings to improve patient safety and care. Participating pharmacy members can track and study patient safety data without fear of exposure. The Act allows providers to study patient safety data, conduct quality assurance/peer review meetings and perform root cause analysis without fear of exposing that work.

APMS PSO is a 501 c 3 supporting organization of the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. The website for APMS PSO is www.medicationsafety.org .The Executive Director is Tara Modisett, CAE.

PEER

The mission of Pharmacy Ethics, Education and Resources (PEER) is to educate health care professionals on ethics to improve patient safety. The pandemic has added ambiguity in best practices and treatments. The future of pharmacy is unclear due to declining reimbursements, uncertainty due to changes in payment models, and changes in the profession. Uncertainty may increase the chance of a professional making an unethical decision due to financial constraint or inaccurate information. Pharmacists are expressing a feeling of impotence and an inability to care for their patients to the extent they were educated. No other organization offers on-demand hour modules as a series that can be taken individually based on topic interest. PEER is a resource for health care professionals on the topic of ethics to prevent unintentional, yet harmful medication errors caused by ethics violations.

PEER was founded in 2015 as a 501© 3 supporting organization. The website for PEER is www.PeerRx.org. The founder, President, and Executive Director is Dixie Leikach, RPh, MBA, PRS, FACA. Our Board and Advisory Board include a wide range of practice settings and experience to ensure the integrity of the organization and programming. PEER focuses on providing continuing education virtually and in-person for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and student pharmacists to increase the awareness of pharmacy ethical issues that are occurring in “real time”. PEER also offers a Maryland Board of Pharmacy approved Technician Training Program in addition to virtual and in-person continuing education.

For more information, press only:

Dixie Leikach

443-386-1062

Dixie@PeerRx.org