Medication Policies

Section 330 Section 330.1510  Medication Policies a)         Every facility shall adopt written policies and procedures for assisting residents in obtaining individually prescribed medication for self-administration and for disposing of medications prescribed by the attending physicians.  These policies and procedures shall be consistent with the Act and this Part and shall be followed by the facility. 1)         Medication policies and procedures shall be developed with consultation from an Illinois registered professional nurse and a registered pharmacist.  These policies and procedures shall be part of the written program of care and services. 2)         All medications taken by residents shall be ordered by the licensed prescriber directly from a pharmacy.  If the facility has a licensed nurse who supervises the medication regimen of the residents, the nurse may transmit the licensed prescriber's orders to the pharmacy. 3)         If facility policy permits residents to be totally responsible for their own medication, with written permission from the attending physician, the resident and attending physician shall be given written statements concerning what the responsibilities of the facility, the resident and the physician are if the resident, or any other person, suffers harm as a result of the resident's handling his or her own medications. 4)         If the facility elects to administer medications to some residents for control purposes, the medications shall be administered by personnel who are licensed to administer medications, in accordance with their respective licensing requirements.  Medications shall not be recorded as having been administered prior to their actual administration to the resident. b)         For the purpose of this Subpart, "licensed prescriber" means a physician; a dentist; a podiatrist; an optometrist certified to use therapeutic ocular pharmaceutical agents; a physician assistant to whom prescriptive authority has been delegated by a supervising physician; or an advanced practice nurse practicing under a valid collaborative agreement. c)         Drug and Pharmacy Restrictions 1)         No facility shall stock drugs. 2)         No facility shall operate a pharmacy. d)        All medications on individual prescription or from the licensed prescriber's personal supply shall be labeled as set forth in Section 330.1530(f).  A licensed prescriber who dispenses medication from his or her personal office supply shall comply with Sections 33 and 54.5 of the Medical Practice Act of 1987 [225 ILCS 60/33 and 54.5]; or Section 51 of the Illinois Dental Practice Act [225 ILCS 25/51]; or the Podiatric Medical Practice Act of 1987 [225 ILCS 100]; or Section 15.1 of the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987 [225 ILCS 80/15.1]; or Section 15-20 of the Nursing and Advanced Practice Nursing Act [225 ILCS 65/15-20]; or Section 7.5 of the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987 [225 ILCS 95/7.5]. 1)         All other medications shall be authorized by a licensed prescriber for individual resident use, and shall be clearly identified with the resident's name. 2)         Attending physicians shall review the medication regimen of each resident at least every six months.  This review shall be documented in the resident's record. e)         Medication Records 1)         All medications used by residents shall be recorded by facility staff at time of use.  (See Section 330.1710.) 2)         A medication record shall be kept for those residents for whom the attending physician has given permission to keep their medication in their room and to be fully responsible for taking the medications in the correct dosage and at the proper times. f)         Oxygen may be administered in a facility.  The oxygen supply shall be stored and handled in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard No. 99: Standard for Health Care Facilities (2002, no later amendments or editions included) for nonflammable medical gas systems.  The facility shall comply with directions for use of oxygen systems as established by the manufacturer and the applicable provisions of NFPA 99 and the NFPA Life Safety Code (see Section 330.340). 1)         Facilities shall store medical grade products separately from industrial grade products.  The storage area for medical grade products shall be well defined with one area for receiving full medical gas vessels and another for storing empty vessels. 2)         All personnel who will be handling medical gases shall be trained to recognize the various medical gas labels.  Personnel shall be trained to examine all labels carefully. 3)         If the facility's supplier uses 360-degree wrap-around labels to designate medical oxygen, personnel shall be specifically trained to make sure each vessel they connect to the oxygen system bears such a label. 4)         All facility personnel responsible for changing or installing medical gas vessels shall be trained to connect medical gas vessels properly. Personnel shall understand how vessels are connected to the oxygen supply system and shall be alerted to the serious consequences of changing connections. 5)         If a medical gas vessel fitting does not seem to connect to the oxygen system fitting, the supplier shall be contacted immediately.  The vessel shall be returned to the supplier to determine the fitting or connection problem. 6)         Once a medical gas vessel has been connected to the oxygen supply system, but prior to introducing the product into the system, a trained facility staff member shall ensure that the correct vessel has been connected properly. g)           All medications having an expiration date that has passed, and all medications of residents who have died shall be disposed of in accordance with the written policies and procedures established by the facility in accordance with Section 330.1510.  Medications shall be transferred with a resident, upon order of the resident's physician, when a resident transfers to another facility.  All discontinued medications, with the exception of those products regulated and defined as controlled substances under Section 802 of the federal Controlled Substances Act (21 USC 802), shall be returned to the dispensing pharmacy.  Disposition shall be noted in the resident's record.