Home Health & Hospice Week

Check this list and examples to steer in the right direction. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services leaves it to the provider’s clinical judgment to determine whether a medication issue is "clinically significant." But the issue must pose an actual or potential threat to the patient’s health or safety, says Judy Adams, RN, BSN, HCS-D, HCS-O with Adams Home Care Consulting in Chapel Hill, NC. Examples of clinically significant medication issues include: Drug reactions. These are adverse reactions or consequences of taking a drug. A drug reaction may be a secondary effect of a medication that is undesirable and different from therapeutic or any response to a medication that is noxious, and unintended effect such as a rash. Ineffective drug therapy such as an analgesic that does not relieve pain. Side effects. These expected, well-known reactions occur with a predictable frequency and may or may not constitute an adverse [...]