New vaccine error reporting program available from ISMP

Healthcare professionals can now report errors and near-misses that are associated with vaccine administration. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has launched its third national safety reporting program, developed to capture the causes and consequences of errors that are related to vaccines.

A vaccine error can be reported online at http://verp.ismp.org/. ISMP encourages healthcare professionals from all practice settings to report mistakes associated with vaccines, even if there was no harmful outcome.

“The new reporting program will help fuel collaborative efforts to prevent errors related to vaccine use,” said Michael Cohen, president of ISMP, in a press statement. “With the assistance of the healthcare community, we will be able to better quantify the sources of errors and advocate for vaccine name, labeling, device, information, and other needed product changes to ensure patient safety.”

The ISMP National Vaccine Error Reporting Program was designed with the help of the California Department of Public Health and with input from experts in the field.

“ISMP’s vaccine-error reporting program is an exciting new development that will provide more specific information on the many different types of errors that occur and allow us to develop effective prevention strategies,” said Deborah Wexler, MD, executive director of the Immunization Action Coalition.

All reports that are sent to the ISMP vaccine-error reporting program will be shared with FDA and with vaccine manufacturers when necessary. In addition, ISMP will work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on information that is received to address vaccine-related safety.

For more information about ISMP’s error-reporting programs, go to: www.ismp.org/orderforms/reporterrortoismp.asp.