Hello.

Recently, we have seen a spike in patient's own medications being inadvertently self-administered by the patient or their family member because the patient didn't know/understand that this is an unacceptable practice while in our hospital setting. These errors have led to discussions on the chain of custody for patient's own medications when they are not ordered for use in the hospital. Of note, we only allow patient's to use their own meds 1) after barcoded by pharmacy 2) if non-formulary or 3) if it's a bulk medication for a medicare patient who is in observation (ie eye drops, ointments, creams, etc).

How do you get the message across to patients that they are not to use medications from their stash while in the hospital?

What is your process for instructing for patient's family members to take the patient's meds home with them?

What is your process for securing and documenting the chain of custody for home meds that are not able to be sent home with a patient's family member?

Thanks all!

Rachel Durham PharmD RPh