Hospital Self-Assessment for Anticoagulant Safety Introduction

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The Hospital Self-Assessment for Anticoagulant Safety (HSASAS) is designed to:

• Heighten awareness of best practices with respect to anticoagulant safety
• Create a baseline for hospital efforts to enhance the safety of anticoagulant use and assess progress with respect to these strategies and practices over time.

The self-assessment is divided into two categories - Current Strategies and Current Practices. Within each of these categories are elements that relate to key areas of Anticoagulant Safety - Proper Storage and Handling of Heparin Products and Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalized patients at risk. Representative self-assessment items are provided to help you evaluate your success with each of the core distinguishing characteristics.

The Hospital Self-Assessment for Anticoagulant Safety (HSASAS) and its components are copyrighted by ISMP Canada and may not be used in whole or in part for any other purpose or by any other entity except for self-assessment of medication systems by hospitals as part of their ongoing quality improvement activities.

ISMP Canada is not a standard-setting organization. As such, the self-assessment items in this document are not purported to represent a minimum standard of practice and should not be considered as such. In fact, some of the self-assessment criteria represent innovative practices and system enhancements that are not widely implemented in most hospitals today. However, their value in reducing errors is grounded in scientific research and expert analysis of medication errors and their causes.

HSASAS findings are intended for internal use and become more useful as repeat assessments are performed to see where improvements have been achieved over time. Furthermore, some of the characteristics describe functionality or technology which is not readily used in various hospitals, but represents a potential safety goal.