Controlled Substances Best Practices Part 2

    This is the second of four weekly posts examining best practices for handling controlled substances in a veterinary hospital. The posts are derived from information in drip.vet's Opioid 411 Anytime course.

    Dispensing

    When you are dispensing opioids or controlled substances from the inventory make sure that you get to know your client.

    Remember the law requires that you form a Veterinary Client Relationship every time you dispense opioids. But even more so, watch for those clients that you don’t know. They may be traveling, they may be transient or just new clients.


    Also remember that emergency visits have the highest odds for drug shoppers and this is where it’s hard. We as veterinarians just want to trust people but we shouldn’t.

    Some states require a pick up log for dispensed opioids just like they do in human pharmacies where the client has to show their photo ID so that a dispenser knows exactly who is walking out the door with the drugs. Remember it may be a spouse or a partner or a family member that is the actual abuser.

    And lastly you may decide not to dispense opioids anymore. It’s really getting to the point where the benefits and profit margins are less and less. It’s actually easier to shift some of the liability and the expense of dispensing these controlled substances over to the human pharmacies. It’s not fun to give away the revenue stream but the margins on these drugs is pretty thin especially if you consider the team member’s time to order, inventory, log and to input data into the PDMP.

    Prescribing

    If you are sending prescriptions out the door, that’s fine -- just make sure that your prescription pads are on lockdown just like the actual drugs. Also, never ever pre-sign prescriptions pads and let your team members fill out the drug information. This is a prime area for diversion and prescription fraud.

    Lastly, maintain a relationship with your local pharmacist. I know that some veterinarians and pharmacists have had tension in the past but it’s nice to get to know them on a first-name basis. They will be watching prescriptions for controlled substances closely and they will notify you if something doesn’t line up or if they come across a prescription with your name on it, just to make sure that you actually authorized it. They are just trying to do their job in controlling the flood of the opioid crisis.

    COMING UP IN PART 3: Administering and Storage

    Related posts:

    Veterinary Team Best Practices for Handling Opioids

    drip.vet's Opioid 411 in mandated states

    drip.vet's Opioid 411 courses are RACE-approved continuing education covering opioid prescribing by veterinarians in precise detail. This course provides students with a broad range of expert level knowledge on subjects including: The Opioid Crisis in America, DEA Laws and Regulations, Identifying and Stopping Misuse, Opioids in Practice and Best Practices. For more information, click the image below:

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