Which of the following is NOT considered a common safety strategy in pharmacy practice?

In pharmacy practice, effective communication and error prevention are essential components of ensuring patient safety. Using sig codes, which are shorthand notations for prescribing directions, is indeed common; however, it does not specifically enhance safety in the same way that other strategies do.

Tall man lettering is a tactic designed to differentiate similar-looking medication names, thereby helping to prevent medication errors related to name confusion. This strategy is particularly useful in reducing the risk of wrongly dispensing medications with similar names.

Leading and trailing zeros are important in numerical prescriptions. The use of a leading zero (e.g., 0.5 mg instead of .5 mg) helps prevent misunderstandings that could arise if the dosage is misread, while avoiding trailing zeros (e.g., writing 5 mg instead of 5.0 mg) prevents the potential misinterpretation of the dosage as 50 mg.

Verification of the patient name and address ensures that the correct patient receives their medication, a key practice in preventing errors related to wrong patient dispensing.

While sig codes facilitate quicker communication and are widely accepted in pharmacy practice, they are not considered a specific safety strategy like the others. Therefore, their use does not inherently improve safety, making them the choice that does not align as a common safety strategy.