In May 2005, The Joint Commission affirmed its “do not use” list of abbreviations. The list was originally created in 2004 by The Joint Commission as part of the requirements for meeting National Patient Safety Goal Requirement 2B (Standardize a list of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols that are not to be used throughout the organization). Participants at the November 2004 National Summit on Medical Abbreviations supported the “do not use” list. Summit conclusions were posted on the Joint Commission website for public comment. During the four-week comment period, the Joint Commission received 5,227 responses, including 15,485 comments. More than 80 percent of the respondents supported the creation and adoption of a “do not use” list. However, the field was less supportive of additions to the list.
While no additions will be made to the “do not use” list at this time, the following items will be reviewed annually for possible inclusion as part of the development of future Joint Commission NPSGs:
The symbols “>” and “<”
All abbreviations for drug names
Apothecary units
The symbol “@”
The abbreviation “cc”
The abbreviation “μg”
For accreditation purposes, the official “do not use” list applies, at a minimum, to all orders and all medication-related documentation that is handwritten (including free-text computer entry) or on pre-printed forms. This requirement does not currently apply to preprogrammed health information technology systems (for example, electronic medical records or CPOE systems), but remains under consideration for the future. Organizations contemplating introduction or upgrade of such systems should strive to eliminate the use of dangerous abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations from the software.
For more information see Facts about the Official "Do Not Use" List.