Medication Safety Tips from APMS

NHPA is proud to partner with the Alliance for Patient Medication Safety (APMS) PSO, which provides thousands of independent, chain, and compounding pharmacies with a simple, effective, and affordable continuous quality improvement program. Through its tools and services, APMS helps pharmacies report and analyze patient safety events, implement corrective training, reduce risk, and improve patient care.

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August 2026

Safety Tip: Closing the Feedback Loop on QRE Reporting

Reporting QREs is a critical first step in documenting risks and harm. QRE reports can lead to actionable improvements in:

workflow
modified technology/software
the pharmacy's workspace design
quality of patient care

Closing the feedback loop is a positive step to increase employee engagement and improve the safety culture.

Does your Pharmacy have a plan to inform each employee of the changes that are made, and when these were the result of QRE reporting?

July 2026

Safety Tip: Compounding Master Formula Records (MFRs)

Necessary for compliance with USP <795> and local regulations
Standardizes procedures/assures consistency when preparing extemporaneous products
Includes documentation of quality control checks at critical steps
Essential in addition to the separate Compounding Record (CR)

Does your pharmacy have and follow a written procedure to assure that the accuracy of MFRs and CRs are independently verified and documented before they are used in production and before any formulation changes or procedural changes are made?

June 2026

Safety Tip: Technology Workarounds

Workarounds often introduce hidden risk.

Examples include:

bypassing barcode scanning
overriding alerts without review
using manual processes instead of system safeguards

Identify and address why workarounds occur, not just the behavior itself.

May 2026

Safety Tip: Allergy Documentation and Verification

Incomplete or outdated allergy information contributes to preventable harm.

Verify allergies at every patient encounter.

Document reaction type, not just "allergy".

Distinguish side effects from true allergies.

Does your system support meaningful clinical decision-making?

April 2026

Safety Tip: High-Alert Medication Storage

Improper storage increases the risk of selection errors.

Risk reduction strategies:

segregating high-alert medications (e.g., insulin, opioids, anticoagulants)
using auxiliary warnings and shelf markers
limiting access where appropriate

Review whether storage practices match the level of risk.

March 2026

Safety Tip: Independent Double Checks in Compounding

Independent verification reduces the risk of compounding errors.

Ensure the second check is truly independent (no prompting).
Verify calculations, ingredients, and measurements.
Document completion of each check.

Avoid “check-the-box” behaviors that reduce effectiveness.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, visit the APMS site at www.medicationsafety.org or give APMS a call at (866)365-7472.