First high-risk medication list for Australian residential aged care
High-risk medications are those that carry a significant risk of serious harm or death if misused or used in error. Health professionals and health service organisations are required to have systems in place to identify and mitigate the risks associated with high-risk medications specific to their setting, but existing high-risk medication lists are not tailored to the unique and complex needs of aged care.
Researchers at Monash University, together with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals and medication safety experts, developed the first national consensus list of medications with a high risk of harm in Australian residential aged care.
The OZ-ABCD tool gives busy clinicians and aged care staff a simple, memorable way to identify high-risk medications and ensure systems and monitoring are in place to keep residents safe.
The OZ-ABCD mnemonic stands for:
- Opioids
- Z-drugs and benzodiazepines
- Antipsychotics and lithium
- Blood thinners
- Chemotherapeutic agents and methotrexate
- Diabetes agents with high risk of hypoglycaemia
Please click here to access the full article published in the Australasian Journal on Ageing.
Contact for more information
For more information about the OZ-ABCD tool, please contact Dr Amanda Cross (Amanda.Cross@monash.edu).