Sheldon S. Sones, RPh, FASCP, is president of Sheldon S. Sones and Associates, a pharmacy and accreditation consulting firm based in Newington, Conn. He discusses 10 things surgery centers should do to minimize controlled drug deviations. To learn what you should do in the event of a controlled drug deviation, read "6 Things to Do to Manage Controlled Drug Deviations."
1. Assure that discards are witnessed at the time of discard.
2. Document the daily draw to the OR from stock and the return of the same with witnessed signatures.
3. Do not allow erasures or "white out" on controlled drug records.
4. Do an internal review of "correlation." Correlate the anesthesia records to the controlled drug usage records.
5. Assure your biennial inventory on or about May 1 is complete and readily available. Work on this with your pharmacy consultant as you approach May 1, 2011.
6. Make sure anesthesia carts with controlled drugs are locked when unattended. Although not required by all states, we have found the safest strategy is to lock anesthesia carts when not attended. The minor time to do this is well worth it. An unsolved controlled drug deviation could take hours to resolve and open a cascade of communications and concerns.
7. Assure daily counts at start of day and end of day are carefully performed and documented.
8. Resolve any paper discrepancies on the day of service … not some other day.
9. Make sure single dose vials ampules are used for single patients only.
10. File controlled drug records in a secure location and do not allow them to accumulate at a nurse's station for long periods of time.
Learn more about Sheldon S. Sones and Associates and www.sheldonsones.com.
Read more insight from Sheldon Sones:
- Frequency of Narcotic and Pharmacy Audits
- How Long Does an ASC Need to Keep Drug Recall Notices