May your Easter basket be full of Joy, Happiness and Peace at Easter and Always! Wishing you all a Happy Easter holiday. Your friends at OctariusRx.
Tag: Patients
Post
Happy New Year!
We have some exciting plans in the works for 2020. As we begin a new year full of hope and promise, we’d like to wish you great success in achieving your dreams and goals. All the bests for an amazing 2020!
Post
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! What an incredible year 2019 has been and it couldn’t have happened without the support of our family, friends, team members and clients.
Post
Compounded Drugs
Does your facility use compounded drugs? Do you get them from an FDA registered 503B outsourcing facility? According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, about 11% of hospitals get compounded drugs from sources that are not registered with the FDA.
Post
Medication Safety Quiz
In our most recent newsletter issue and during our customer visits, we have shared our updated "Med Safety Quiz". The quiz is designed to actually "teach rather than trick". If you’d like to try these questions and then check your answers, please reach out to us for more details.
Post
Medication Storage Guidance
One of the key components for meeting the CMS requirements for the proper provision of pharmaceutical services is the requirement to properly store medications. First, we address the general requirements of medication storage. Second, we address the specific requirements for medication rooms and refrigerators. According to F-Tag 761, facilities must store all drugs and biologicals...
Post
Medication Rooms and Refrigerators
Ensuring a medication room is always ready for survey requires minimal effort but requires constant vigilance. Starting with security, medication storage areas must be locked when not being accessed by an authorized person. Schedule II-controlled substances must be maintained within a separately locked permanently affixed compartment (double lock requirement). Proper labeling is also required for...
Post
Unnecessary Drugs
One of the areas often cited under Pharmaceutical Services during survey is Unnecessary Drugs, which now falls under F757 in the updated State Operations Manual (SOM). The F-Tag states that “Each resident’s drug regimen must be free from unnecessary drugs”. The term Unnecessary Drug is often misunderstood, incorrectly used and poorly applied. Upon hearing it...
Post
Practical examples of Unnecessary Drugs
The most obvious example of a situation that could include an Unnecessary Drug is when a patient is admitted or a new medication is started and a proper diagnosis is not noted in the medical record. We encourage you to add all diagnoses to one central list, even if the diagnosis can be found in...
Post
New Clostridium Difficile Guidelines
A lot has changed in the diagnosis and treatment of Clostridium Difficile Infection (CDI) since the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) last published guidelines in 2010. The new guidelines recommend the development of an antibiotic stewardship program, which should focus on reducing the frequency and...
- 1
- 2