*TS: 5 Sure-Fire Methods: Complying with Standard MM.01.01.03[®]  [REF:MD, Phrm, P&T] The Source, May 2014, Vol 12, #5, Pg 2 JCs1405_B1

• The article provides a useful definition of High-Alert and Hazardous medications (see comments section of this article). In keeping with the format of this series, it also offers 5 compliance strategies.  The first of these includes references to help identify high-alert (www.ismp.org/Tools/highalertmedications.pdf) and hazardous (www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-150/pdfs/2012-150.pdf) medications.  The rest of the recommendations are fairly mundane (e.g., educate staff). More valuable are the descriptions provided by TJC staff of several common reasons why organizations have difficulty complying with MM.01.01.03. They include:
• Addressing High-Alert but failing to also address Hazardous medications
• Using lists of High-Alert/Hazardous medications that are not specific to your organization
• Failure to go beyond creating the lists and actually developing processes to reduce the risks associated with these medications
Tip: NIOSH lists Risperidone as a drug that should be handled as hazardous