Virginia Administrative Code › Title 18 - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING › Agency 110 - BOARD OF PHARMACY › Chapter 20 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE PRACTICE OF PHARMACY › Part X - Pharmacy Services to Long-Term Care Facilities › Section 18VAC110-20-530 - Pharmacy's responsibilities to long-term care facilities

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. The pharmacy serving a long-term care
				  facility shall:
1. Receive a valid order
				  prior to the dispensing of any drug.
2. Ensure that personnel administering the
				  drugs are trained in using the dispensing system provided by the
				  pharmacy.
3. Ensure that the drugs
				  for each patient are kept and stored in the originally received containers and
				  that the medication of one patient shall not be transferred to another
				  patient.
4. Ensure that each
				  cabinet, cart, or other area utilized for the storage of drugs is locked and
				  accessible only to authorized personnel.
5. Ensure that the storage area for patients'
				  drugs is well lighted, of sufficient size to permit storage without crowding,
				  and is maintained at appropriate temperature.
6. Ensure that poison and drugs for "external
				  use only" are kept in a cabinet and separate from other medications.
7. Provide for the disposition of
				  discontinued drugs under the following conditions:
a. Discontinued drugs may be returned to the
				  pharmacy for resale or transferred to another pharmacy for redispensing to the
				  indigent if authorized by §
												54.1-3411.1
				  of the Code of Virginia and 18VAC110-20-400, or disposed of by appropriate
				  means in compliance with
				  18VAC110-20-210
				  and with any applicable local, state, and federal laws and
				  regulations.
b. Drug destruction at
				  the pharmacy shall be witnessed by the PIC and by another pharmacy employee.
				  The pharmacy may transfer the drugs for destruction to an entity appropriately
				  licensed to accept returns for destruction. Drug destruction at the facility
				  shall be witnessed by the director of nursing or if there is no director, then
				  by the facility administrator and by a pharmacist providing pharmacy services
				  to the facility or by another employee authorized to administer
				  medication.
c. A complete and
				  accurate record of the drugs returned or destroyed or both shall be made. The
				  original of the record of destruction shall be signed and dated by the persons
				  witnessing the destruction and maintained at the long-term care facility for a
				  period of two years. A copy of the destruction record shall be maintained at
				  the provider pharmacy for a period of two years.
d. Long-term care facilities shall destroy
				  discontinued or unused drugs or return them to the pharmacy within 30 days of
				  the date the drug was discontinued.
8. Ensure that appropriate drug reference
				  materials are available in the facility units.
9. Ensure that a monthly review of drug
				  therapy by a pharmacist is conducted for each patient in long-term care
				  facilities except those licensed under Title 63.2 of the Code of Virginia. Such
				  review shall be used to determine any irregularities, which may include drug
				  therapy, drug interactions, drug administration, or transcription errors. The
				  pharmacist shall sign and date the notation of the review. All significant
				  irregularities shall be brought to the attention of the attending practitioner
				  or other party having authority to correct the potential problem.