Joint Commission revises 2018 Medication Management standards

Editor's Note

The Joint Commission on July 12 announced revisions to its Medication Management standards that will become effective January 1, 2018.

Among the revisions:

• Implementing a policy to provide emergency backup of medication dispensing equipment.
• Adding “wasting” of medication to required written policies.
• Implementing a policy for medication overrides when automatic dispensing cabinets are used.
• Recording date and time of all medication administered in the patient’s record.

The revisions ensure that standards reflect evidence-based practices and quality and safety issues that have emerged from the field in recent years, the Joint Commission says.

Joint Commission Online Weekly Newsletter