Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 391 - REGULATIONS FOR THE LICENSURE OF HOSPICE › Part IV - Hospice Facilities › Section 12VAC5-391-460 - Pharmacy services

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Whether
				  medications and biologicals are obtained from community or institutional
				  pharmacies, the hospice facility is responsible for assuring availability for
				  medications and biologicals, including 24-hour emergency services, for its
				  patients and for ensuring that pharmaceutical services are provided according
				  to accepted professional principles and appropriate federal and state
				  laws.
B. The facility shall comply
				  with the Virginia Board of Pharmacy regulations related to pharmacy services in
				  long-term care facilities (i.e., Part XII (18VAC110-20-520 et seq.) of the
				  Regulations Governing the Practice of Pharmacy).
C. Each hospice facility shall develop and
				  implement policies and procedures for the handling of drugs and biologicals,
				  including procurement, storage, administration, medication errors,
				  self-administration, disposal and accounting of drugs and other pharmacy
				  products.
D. Each facility shall
				  have a written agreement with a qualified pharmacist to provide consultation on
				  all aspects of the provision of pharmacy services in the facility.
The consultant pharmacist shall make regularly scheduled
					 visits, at least quarterly, to the facility for a sufficient number of hours to
					 carry out the function of the agreement.
E. Each prescription container shall be
				  individually labeled by the pharmacist for each patient or provided in an
				  individualized unit dose system.
F.
				  No drug or medication shall be administered to any patient without a valid
				  verbal order or a written, dated and signed order from a physician, dentist ,
				  podiatrist, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant licensed in
				  Virginia.
G. Verbal orders for
				  drugs or medications shall only be given to a licensed nurse, pharmacist or
				  physician.
H. Each patient's
				  medication regimen shall be reviewed by a pharmacist licensed in Virginia. Any
				  irregularities identified by the pharmacist shall be reported to the physician
				  and the director of nursing, and their response documented.
I. Medication orders shall be reviewed at
				  least every 60 days by the attending physician, nurse practitioner, or
				  physician's assistant.
J.
				  Prescription and nonprescription drugs and medications may be brought into the
				  facility by a patient's family, friend, or other person provided:
1. The individual delivering the drugs and
				  medications assures timely delivery, in accordance with the facility's written
				  policies, so that the patient's prescribed treatment plan is not
				  disrupted;
2. Each drug or
				  medication is in an individual container; and
3. Delivery is not allowed directly to an
				  individual patient.
In addition, prescription medications shall be:
4. Obtained from a pharmacy
				  licensed by the state or federal authority; and
5. Securely sealed and labeled by a licensed
				  pharmacist according to
				  18VAC110-20-330 and
				  18VAC110-20-340.