Assisted Living: Medication Policies, Procedures, and Quality Assurance
All assisted living facilities have rules for how medication is used and stored. These rules, called policies and procedures, help keep residents safe.
Facilities also have ways to make sure these rules are working. This is called a quality assurance program. All facilities should have a quality assurance program for medications. These programs can prevent medication errors and ensure resident safety.
Some facilities that have shared ownership can have the same policies and procedures. Facilities that serve different populations may need policies specific to each resident population.
Policies and procedures
Assisted living facilities should have rules for how to:
- Order medications.
- Package and store medications.
- Dispose of medication.
- Perform pharmacy reviews of medications.
- Help residents manage their medications.
- Give medication to residents.
- Report and prevent medication errors.
- Monitor for medication adverse effects.
- Store controlled substances.
- Use psychotropic medicines.
- Use "as needed" medications.
- Train and supervise staff.
Quality assurance
Quality assurance programs should include ways to:
- Review how staff give and store medication.
- Find the cause of a medication error and correct it.
- Make sure records are complete and accurate.
- Check results of pharmacist's medication reviews.