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Consider these medication management best practices

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, January 5, 2006

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Your facility may have medication management techniques that work, but you should always seek out ways to improve your practices, says Ken Speidel, PharmD, vice president of Northcoast Infusion Therapies, Ltd. in Oakwood Village, OH, and clinical director for PharmaCare Rx., Inc., a specialty pharmacy consulting organization in Tallmadge, OH. Speidel consults with physician and specialty practices on issues related to medication management.

Before you undertake any changes to your medication management program, make sure the adjustments comply with your state laws. Contact your state board of pharmacy for counsel. "Most state boards have Web sites with specific rules and regulations that can be excellent road maps to safe medication practices," Speidel says.

Speidel offers the following best practice suggestions that you may want to incorporate into your practices:

• Label everything going in or on a patient (e.g., syringes, basins, IV bags, etc.) when it leaves your hand.
• Make labeling an easy step. Create labels before preparing the syringe or container. If your organization does not have an automated medication order and labeling system, most word processing programs can create preprinted label templates. When designing the labels, create a space for the dose, lot number, and initials. Make several extra sheets of labels for each injectable or solution that you prepare, Speidel says.
• Create a log for documenting the order, prescriber, patient dose, lot number, and expiration date. Lot numbers from the original manufactured or compounded product are important in the event of a drug recall, which is not all that uncommon.

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