The National Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that there are 1.5 million preventable medication errors each year. These medications are costly and strategies must be taken to prevent such occurrences. The government agency charged with safety of food and drugs in the United States is the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Staying current on new pharmacological developments is essential in preventing medication errors in patient care. One way to do this is to subscribe to electronic notification from the FDA on medication alerts.

Therefore, you are expected to use your PDA MedAlert software to receive updates from the FDA each time your PDA is synced.

Now, identify at least one MedAlert that you received this week.

If you are not currently receiving MedAlerts on your PDA when it is synced with your computer, complete the following instructions.

• On the computer that you use to sync your PDA you will need to download the MedAlert software here, http://www.skyscape.com/estore/productdetail_medalertpda.aspx. Choose Download then login using your Skyscape information.
• Choose the operating system, the platform and device you wish to install it on and then click Find Download.
• Once MedAlert is downloaded you will need to sync your PDA to receive alerts. On your PDA read the first page carefully as it gives you directions for saving the MedAlerts so that they will integrate with the rest of your Skyscape software.