AIMS, Spring/Summer 2020

AIMS: Committing to Continuous Quality Improvement

Banner Summer 2019 AIMS
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AIMS CQI Graphic V3

The success of the AIMS Program in improving patient safety in pharmacies, and across the province, depends on recording medication incidents and near misses promptly to the Pharmapod platform. Pharmacy professionals should actively participate in facilitating the integration of the AIMS Program in the pharmacy and supporting ongoing use of the platform as part of their collaborative work to improve the care provided to patients.

Designated Managers, owners and directors must enable and support pharmacy professionals in meeting the requirements of the AIMS Program, including ensuring access to the recording platform and associated tools and resources, and confirming that the mandatory AIMS Program web-based training has been completed. These e-training modules are available on the AIMS platform.

For more information about the requirements under the AIMS Program, please visit the AIMS Standards and Expectations page on the OCP website


SETTING THE FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESS THROUGH TRAINING

Effective use of the AIMS platform requires pharmacy staff to have a full understanding of the medication safety program and how to use the tools available on the platform. To facilitate this understanding, the platform contains training modules for all users.

AIMS Data Reporting Screen shot

The six mandatory e-training modules focus on:

  • Describing the difference between a medication incident and a near miss and identifying specific information required to ensure good quality recording of medication incidents and near misses
  • Understanding the importance of using standardized terminology as part of the AIMS Program and locating these definitions
  • Submitting a medication incident and near miss using the platform
  • Describing what Continuous Quality Improvement is and how it can be implemented within the pharmacy
  • Applying a root-cause analysis of medication incidents and near misses
  • Generating reports and reviewing data from medication incidents and near misses

The modules together take less than an hour to do, with visual slides and a few questions to test understanding. They do not need to be completed at one time – the system will automatically save the place where the user was last.

All staff at the pharmacy are expected to complete the e-training.


COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AIMS Program

The College recently updated the Frequently Asked Questions on the AIMS Program on the OCP website. Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions about using the event-recording platform:

What if I am the Designated Manager at more than one pharmacy?

Each accredited community pharmacy requires a unique AIMS account. Designated Managers have the responsibility to onboard and activate the pharmacy account for each of their pharmacies.

If you are the Designated Manager at multiple pharmacies you will use your email address (the email address provided to the College under the registrant profile) to set up accounts for each of the pharmacies. Once you click the link and set up a password in ONE of the invitation emails received, you will be able to see each of your pharmacies on the ‘Select Facility or Organization’ page on the AIMS platform. Please make sure to click into each of the pharmacy accounts on this page to activate each pharmacy.

What if there is a change in the Designated Manager at the pharmacy?

The Change of Designated Manager Form must be completed and submitted to the College. The change will be reflected on the College’s pharmacy record upon the College receiving the completed and signed form. Once it is updated on the pharmacy record Pharmapod will be notified of the change and will contact the new Designated Manager to facilitate the transition.

How do I access each pharmacy where I work in the AIMS platform?

The Designated Manager is responsible for adding each pharmacy team member at each pharmacy. If you do not have access, notify your Designated Manager. Users can then log in to all of their pharmacies with the same email address and password. These pharmacies will appear on the “Select Facility or Organization” page.

TAKE TIME TO REVIEW THE EXPERT RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROMOTE PATIENT SAFETY

Released last year, the Taking AIMS Bulletin provided a preliminary analysis of medication event data collected by onboarded community pharmacies from Feb. 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019. It established a solid foundation from which to further develop and provide information and recommendations for pharmacy and other health system professionals to enhance patient safety and reduce the risk of medication incidents and near misses.

All pharmacy professionals are encouraged to review the Taking AIMS expert bulletin and evaluate how the recommendations may be applied in their practice to help prevent medication incidents and near misses.


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