Alliance for Patient Medication Safety

Services

Your Path to Becoming a Better Pharmacy

Using the science of safety, APMS® works with community pharmacies to reduce risk and improve patient care.

The Pharmacy Quality Commitment+ (PQC+) system aids pharmacies in identifying, reporting, and analyzing patient safety events through a secure, web-based portal.

IMPLEMENT BETTER WORKFLOWS

PQC+™ is a continuous quality improvement program that helps you establish a quality conscious workflow and identify, report, and analyze your quality-related patient safety events.

GET EXPERT SUPPORT

Our patient safety experts analyze reported data to create relevant safe practice recommendations, newsletters, and other resources, all available to you through the PQC+ system. We help you understand why errors happen and provide tools to help prevent them.

MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS

Easy-to-use charts and spreadsheets allow you to view your reported events to aid you in determining process improvements and implementing them within your company.

Why choose the PQC+™ program for your pharmacy?

Pharmacy is our focus. We understand how you operate and respect that your time is valuable.

  • Patient Impact: Our tools help pharmacies implement a strong quality improvement program. This leads to increased patient safety and better patient care.
  • Workflow Improvement: Risky processes and workarounds tend to become normalized, and operations can shift slightly with staffing changes, new products, and new procedures. The PQC+ portal presents data in easy-to-read charts, graphs and spreadsheets allowing for analysis of medication incidents to support workflow modifications.
  • Federal Level Protection for Quality Improvement Work: The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act allows healthcare providers that work with a PSO to study patient safety data, conduct quality improvement/peer review meetings, and perform investigative and root cause analyses without fear of legal discovery.
  • Positive Culture: PSO protections, paired with tools and resources, help build a strong safety culture and foster an environment where employees are engaged and collaborative. We offer support in establishing a just culture of safety and provide resources for staff training and continuing education.
  • Education: Expert advice, tips, safe practices and assistance with investigative or root cause analyses are available to all members.
  • Quality Assurance Compliance: The APMS PSO provides the tools to help pharmacies comply with state QA laws, accreditation programs, and network contract quality assurance requirements.
  • Smart Business: A strong quality improvement program is a smart investment. Risks are minimized, and productivity is boosted through proactive error management. Operational efficiency reduces costs and saves precious time.

Training & Education

Getting started is simple. However, like any effective management process, it will require time, effort, and a commitment to improvement. The staff at APMS have helped thousands of pharmacies successfully integrate the program into their workflows and we’re ready to help you. We provide detailed, step-by-step instructions, live tutorials, and all materials necessary to be up and running and compliant in no time.

When you work with a PSO, the protections apply to all of your patient safety work products, which includes RCAs and investigative analysis. APMS® PSO provides tools, training, and templates to walk you through the completion of a thorough and credible investigation.

Feedback, safe practice recommendations and case studies are made available to APMS PSO members through quarterly newsletters, medication safety tips and continuing education.