Faqs: NEW SURVEY ISSUES
January 2020
State Surveyors are targeting the following areas:
1) Ensure that patients who are recieving Warfarin are having their INRs checked at a minimum of once weekly and 3 days after a dosage change
2) Antispychotics should ony be prescribed for schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, major depressive disorder and psychosis
3) Attempts should be made to reduce the dosage of antipsychotics and antianxiety medications unless clinically contraindicated - This must be documented by the Psychiatrist
4) Antihistamines such as Bendaryl or Atarax for uticaria should only be used short-term - MDs must reevaluate continued need on a monthly basis
5) Ensure that only crushable medications are being crushed - Check with your Vendor Pharmacy for more information
6) Fentanyl Patch - Consider alternative pain medications since there are so many issues with the monitoring and destruction of this medication
7) Refused medications must be brought to the attention of the prescriber for evaluation and /or alternative therapy
8) Ensure that Verbal Orders are countersigned by the MD within 48 hours
9) Standing orders for hypnotic medications for LTC Residents should be evalauted by the prescriber for possible change to PRN status once every 3 months - If this fails documentation is needed and no further attempts are needed for 1 year
10) Acetaminophen alone or in combination with other medications must never exceed or have the potential to exceed 4g per day
11) Ensure that Dialysis patients are not missing medications because of their treatments - Adjust the schedule of their medications accordingly
12) Patients with Sliding Scale Orders → Use these type of orders as short-term-use only
13) Ensure that Sliding Scale Orders are being administered and documented as per MD orders
14) Insulin Coverage should never be administered when the blood glucose is < 150mg/dl
15) HBA1c should be ordered once every 3 months for patients receiving medications for diabetes