Pharmacists and pharmacy workers play a crucial role in safeguarding patient health, ensuring medications are dispensed accurately, and preventing errors. Among these efforts, one action often doesn’t get the recognition it deserves — reporting good catches.
Good catch reporting is just as vital as reporting medication errors themselves. It provides an invaluable opportunity to improve medication safety, identify patterns, and prevent issues before they happen. But far too many good catches go unnoticed, unacknowledged, and unreported.
What Is a “Good Catch”?
A good catch (also called a close call) is a situation where a potential medication error is noticed and stopped before it reaches the patient. Essentially, it’s a near-miss prevented through vigilance. Think of it as a heroic save, where a small action protects against what could have been a significant threat to patient safety.
However, despite their importance, good catches are often underreported. Many pharmacies experience at least one reportable good catch every week, but without proper documentation, these near-misses don’t translate to meaningful changes.
Why Reporting Good Catches Is Critical
You might wonder—if the error didn’t reach the patient, is it really worth reporting? The answer is a resounding yes, and here’s why:
- Preventing Future Errors: A good catch caught today could be a fully developed error tomorrow. Without a report, there’s no data to analyze and act on to prevent similar mistakes from recurring.
- Spotting Patterns: Systemic issues often manifest as repeated good catches. Documenting these events can spotlight flaws in workflows or technology that need addressing.
- Enhancing Patient Safety: Reporting good catches is a proactive way to protect patients in the long run. It’s not just fixing mistakes; it’s improving the system.
Without records, the next occurrence may not be caught in time. Reporting your good catches ensures that every opportunity to strengthen the safety net isn’t missed.
Examples of Good Catches Worth Reporting
Here are just a few examples of good catches that can have a significant impact. Each of these scenarios illustrates a moment where your alertness can prevent harm — and reporting these incidents ensures that your vigilance benefits the entire pharmacy system.
Wrong Medication Detected: Spotting a prescription mistakenly filled with the wrong drug due to a selection error.
Incorrect Dosage Identified: Catching a dosage that’s too high or too low based on the patient’s medical history or age.
Allergy Alert: Identifying a prescribed medication that a patient is allergic to before it’s dispensed.
Drug Interaction Flagged: Preventing a dangerous interaction between a new prescription and the patient’s current medications.
Pediatric or Geriatric Dosing Error Prevented: Correcting a pediatric dose that would have been too strong or adjusting a geriatric dose to avoid adverse side effects.
Duplicate Therapy Caught: Stopping a prescription that would have introduced duplicate treatment, potentially leading to overmedication.
Look-Alike/Sound-Alike Medication Error Avoided: Preventing a mix-up between two medications with similar names or packaging.
Overcoming the Barriers to Reporting
We understand reporting good catches can feel tedious or unnecessary, especially when strapped for time. But this small step can make a monumental difference in the long run. When good catches go unreported, pharmacies lose opportunities to strengthen safety measures.
Here are some tips to streamline the process:
- Use Pharmapod – Reporting in Pharmapod ensures all necessary information is captured, making reporting and root cause analysis quick and easy.
- Foster a Team Culture – Encourage open communication and emphasize the importance of patient safety, so reporting good catches becomes second nature.
- Acknowledge Reports – Celebrate your team’s good catches to reinforce the value of diligence.
Learn more about how Pharmapod can simplify good catch and medication incident reporting. Contact us today for a demo!
