Quality use of medicines encompasses the judicious, safe and appropriate use of efficacious medicines. The National Medicine Policy (2000) indicates that health practitioners have an important role to play in achieving quality use of medicines by ensuring people have the knowledge and skills to use medicines appropriately and to their best effect. NPS MedicineWise is an independent, evidence based organisation operating within the framework of the National Medicines Policy to promote quality use of medicines.

HHHhigh risk medicines, such as insulin, are classified as such because they have the propensity to cause severe and adverse harm when used inappropriately. However, medicines, if used correctly, can significantly improve levels of health. The Guiding Principles of Initiating Insulin in Ambulatory Care Setting: a Quality Use of Medicines Strategy were developed to guide the National Standards for the Development and Quality Assessment Services: Initiating Insulin in the Ambulatory Care Settings.

This session will use these standards and underlying guiding principles to discuss the implementation of quality use of medicines concepts when initiating insulin use in the ambulatory care setting. Barriers and enablers to insulin initiation will be explored from a patient and health practitioner perspective.