With the recent major recalls of Heparin, Digitek, Fentanyl, and Morphine Sulfate-ER apparently fresh on their minds, CMS recently issued guidance instructing all state surveyors to insure that facilities have adequate recall procedures, and are familiar with the recall process.

Multiple facilities have now reported to us that the surveyors have indeed followed up on this, and are questioning staff during the survey process.

All facilities are advised to review their policy and procedure manuals, update accordingly, and educate staff. To assist in this process, we've added a template P&P on Recall of Medications - to access it, simply click "Public Documents" above, and download the document. It is provided in Word format, simply modify to suit your specific needs and as always, call us if you have questions or need assistance!

The State Operations Manual final rule and guidance for F329 (Unnecessary Drugs), which went into effect on Monday, December 18, 2006, was revised and re-issued on Friday, December 15th.

There are significant changes to the guidance document from the version released as an advance copy on September 20th, 2006. Most notably, the language in the requirements for gradual dose reductions for psychopharmacologic medications has been modified substantially.

In our "Public Documents" section of this site (see the link above), you will find a summary table of the final rule requirements for Gradual Dose Reductions, which effectively replaces the table we issued earlier, as well as a PDF document of the final rule and guidance for F329. As always, call us if you have any questions!