Canadian medics adopt pioneering learning technology to ensure safer prescribing techniques

BPS Assessment is providing vital support to physicians in Canada, with the introduction of its pioneering learning technology aimed at ensuring safer prescribing techniques.

The agreement between BPS Assessment, the online learning arm of The British Pharmacological Society, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College), aims to address the risk of medication errors and therefore improve public health. The World Health Organization estimates the annual cost of such errors to be over $42 billion USD worldwide.

The new assessment and learning technology offered by BPS Assessment will provide prescribing skills modules for Royal College Fellows, and give them the chance to sit an exam based on the principles of the UK Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA), which is already taken by UK medical undergraduates. The program, which will start in early 2019, follows a successful eight-week trial between the Royal College and BPS Assessment.

As part of the partnership, physicians will have access to online prescribing skills modules in Canada's official languages (English and French), tailored for the needs of the Canadian healthcare context.

"These modules align with our priorities to provide our Fellows with engaging, relevant content to keep up to date on skills needed for treating patients in the 21^st century," said Dr Andrew Padmos, Royal College CEO. "We're proud to be partnering with BPS Assessment to create solutions to this complex problem."

Further, Royal College Fellows will be offered the opportunity to contribute to the question-writing process for the modules, which will help to customize the platform for the Canadian medical community.

"It's timely that we're launching this tool during Canadian Patient Safety Week. It's a subject that resonates with physicians across all specialties and we're pleased to provide this tool to help with their lifelong learning," said Dr Susan Brien, Director of Research, Innovation and Scholarship at the Royal College.

By supporting prescribers with a rich online learning environment, the Royal College and BPS Assessment together aim to reduce the human and financial risks caused by incorrect prescriptions and by errors in guidance given to patience.

Jonathan Brüün, Managing Director of BPS Assessment, arrived in Ottawa during Canadian Patient Safety Week to sign the five-year deal. He commented:

"We're delighted that the Royal College in Canada is joining counterparts in the UK, Asia and Australia in adopting our unique assessments. We believe this collaboration will provide a significant boost to improving standards in the safe administration of medicines, which we understand to be at the forefront of every prescriber's mind. BPS Assessment is committed to improving public health and patient safety, and to helping physicians maintain their skills and standards. Our online training offers a unique contribution to those objectives. We can't wait to get started."