Adapting and remodelling the US Institute for Safe Medication Practices' Medication Safety Self-Assessment tool for hospitals to be used to support national medication safety initiatives in Finland.

Background: The US Institute for Safe Medication Practices' (ISMP) Medication Safety Self-Assessment (MSSA) tool for hospitals is a comprehensive tool for assessing safe medication practices in hospitals.

Aims: To adapt and remodel the ISMP MSSA tool for hospitals so that it can be used in individual wards in order to support long-term medication safety initiatives in Finland.

Methods: The MSSA tool was first adapted for Finnish hospital settings by a four-round (applicability, desirability and feasibility were evaluated) Delphi consensus method (14 panellists), and then remodelled by organizing the items into a new order which is consistent with the order of the ward-based pharmacotherapy plan recommended by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.