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CMS proposes changes to hospital CoP

Pharmacy Regulation Resource, March 30, 2005

Hospitals would see changes to Medicare regulations for securing medications and authenticating verbal orders, according to proposed changes to the hospital Conditions of Participation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published March 25 in the Federal Register.

The proposed rule would require all drugs listed in Schedules II,
III, IV, and V of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control
Act of 1970 be locked within a secure area. CMS also proposes that only authorized staff have access to locked areas.

The change should not impact current medication storage systems in hospitals, CMS said.

A temporary revision to the verbal-order authentication requirement would allow anyone responsible for providing a service to authenticate a patient-record entry, not just the prescribing physician, allowing hospitals flexibility in case the physician is off duty, CMS said.

Tip: CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule until May 24. Go to www.cms.hhs.gov/regulations/ecomments to submit comments.

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