03/03/2022
Survey Tip of the Week: Pharmacy services
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) shared with LeadingAge Ohio that citations involving medication practices have increased in recent months. F-tag 755 is currently the third highest f-tag for calendar year 2022. It was the seventh highest f-tag cited in 2021. The medication error f-tag 759 is the eighth highest tag cited in 2022. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) adverse events report found 37% of adverse events in nursing homes involved medication errors. Recent immediate jeopardy citations have involved deficient practices involving diabetic medication, pain management, availability and administration of medications as ordered.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed an Adverse Drug Event Trigger tool in response to the OIG report. LeadingAge Ohio encourages facilities to utilize the tool in auditing medication practices for compliance. The tool could be utilized to evaluate current assessment protocols, medication record parameters, care planning, and staff competency. An additional tool is the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention which provides a framework to minimize the occurrence of common, dangerous, and preventable adverse drug events related to anticoagulants, diabetic agents, and opioid medications.
LeadingAge Ohio encourages facilities to utilize the Medication Administration Observation LTC survey pathway to monitor for compliance. The survey pathways can be found on the CMS Nursing Home webpage, under the download section, and within the zip file called LTC Survey Pathways.
For more information about the citations occurring in Ohio, please join us on the monthly STAT: Survey Tips and Tactics call. Register now for the March 9 call at 10:00AM.
As Ohio annual survey restarted in January, LeadingAge Ohio is sharing tips to assist members during the survey process. Send questions you’d like addressed in future Tips of the Week to Stephanie DeWees at sdewees@leadingageohio.org.
