“Several studies have shown that highlighting sections of drug names using tall man (mixed case) letters can help distinguish similar drug names, making them less prone to mix-ups.”1
For example1:
Examples of Tall Man Lettering. Image from: http://www.ismp.org/tools/tallmanletters.pdf
“ISMP, FDA, The Joint Commission, and other safety-conscious organizations have promoted the use of tall man letters as one means of reducing confusion between similar drug names.”1 First DataBank,2 the medication database used by NextGen® Pharmacy (NGRx) supports tall man lettering to comply with these organizations.
In NGRx version 2.6.5 (released on 02/06/2015), the importation of tall man lettering from First DataBank to the description field became available. To configure NGRx to import tall man lettering descriptions when they are available for medications, follow the steps listed below:
- A user with administrative access must open the NextGen Pharmacy.
- Click Utilities > Options.
- Click the Inventory tab.
- In the lower left portion of the screen, select whether you want to import tall man descriptions for either Description 1 (generic) or Description 2 (brand name).
- Exit utilities.
After tall man lettering has been enabled, when new drug descriptions containing tall man lettering are imported from First DataBank, the user will see tall man lettering displayed on inpatient orders, reports, and labels for the configured description value.
Note: This option affects only medications that are imported from First DataBank after the option is enabled. To add tall man lettering descriptions to existing medications, users must manually change entries in inventory (Utilities > Inventory > Inventory)
Please review the NextGen Pharmacy Release Note version 2.6.5 for more information, or email your account representative at HospitalSupport@NextGen.com to learn more.