Meds in bottles from outside pharmacies

[Nurse!Nurse!Hello?]

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the number of residents whose families are ordering meds from outside pharmacies (as opposed to the pharmacy that routinely delivers cards of meds to your facility?) I can't fault people for trying to save money--the pharmacy that our facility uses is more expensive than a mail-order pharmacy--but the number of bottles is getting unmanageable. The med carts are a mess, and trying to dig through all the bottles is a lot more time-consuming than just pulling out the neatly-organized med cards.

It also seems like we are getting more and more patients from VA, and their meds are always delivered in bottles. Even the narcs are in bottles. The other day I commented to another nurse, "If this guy doesn't start having diarrhea, we're going to be counting these 47 Lomotils for the next year!"

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

Yes, I am seeing this too. We are also spending a huge amount of time on prior authorizations due to part D and just keeping up with all the re-ordering of all these meds from so many different places.

What have you all decided to do with OTC meds that family provides, ie: Tylenol, Colace, etc?

[mesa1979, BSN, RN]

When I was in LTC, I like the bottles better than the cards. It also saves these people money when the family members can get them from outside pharmacies.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

When I was in LTC, I like the bottles better than the cards. It also saves these people money when the family members can get them from outside pharmacies.

How would you load up a med cart for 40 people with bottles?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

We don't allow it. If people want to buy meds from mail order or another pharmacy, we have a policy that they must be blister packed or we don't take them.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Some residents only buy OTCs from other places (Costco is very popular), others get everything from other places. It can be a huge mess. At my job, all narcs that don't come in sealed packages have to be counted by 2 people before they go in the cart. Medco sent a bottle of 270 Tramadol, which have to be counted every shift.

The biggest PIA we deal with is the local VA Medical Center. It takes them 10 days to mail meds. You could literally walk there (100 miles) in less time than it takes them to mail meds.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

check with your local pharmacies some will bubble pack meds for a small fee... when i worked in ltc we sent anyone with a bottle to this pharm and they did it for $1 a card...bottles are a pain...however i cant remember how we handled the label...may not even be possible anymore but worth a try .....

[Finallydidit]

At our place, meds come individually packed in a small box, that fit very neatly in their drawer, Narcs are on bubble cards and placed in a locked drawer, we only get bottles from backup pharmacy if we have to get a new med or for a new admit that needs his/her meds in a hurry. (they usually only send a 3 day supple) When we get bottles we just put a sticky on the MAR asking the nurse to please use the meds from the bottle first. I have never had an issue where the family orders meds from outside, not sure if policy won't allow it, or if it just hasn't happened to me yet... hummmmm Think I will ask..

[Dixiecup]

We don't allow it. If people want to buy meds from mail order or another pharmacy, we have a policy that they must be blister packed or we don't take them.

Same at our facility, thank goodness!