Accreditation

Follow medication procedures to control contrast media

Accreditation Connection, December 16, 2005

The materials management department at Tennessee Christian Medical Center in Madison purchases contrast media,
says David Kellogg, DPh, MS, the hospital's pharmacy director. Pharmacy staff--mainly technicians--check labels,
expiration dates, and security of the contrast media when conducting monthly inspections of the hospital's floor
stock, he says.

Keep contrast media locked if they are stored in an area where no staff are present. "All the different things
you do with any medication, just apply them to contrast media," Kellogg says. "You have to interact with other
departments involved. Make sure this process is in place."

That process includes making sure a policy outlines which personnel in the radiology department can handle
contrast media--generally an x-ray technician or radiologist--and that the materials management department or
others involved can document recall notices. Try keeping all recall notices for contrast media in a notebook.

Adapted from the December issue of Hospital Pharmacy Regulation Report.

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