AuBurn LTC | 2025 Q2 Newsletter

Welcome!

Happy Spring! Please reach out to our pharmacy team if there are subjects or topics that you would like to see discussed in future issues of this newsletter!

Vaccine Team to the Rescue!

Please email vaccines@auburnpharmacies.com with any vaccination needs (or questions). Our dedicated team will take it from there! Please be patient with us as we navigate the influx of new vaccines and recommendations along with billing challenges.

Vaccine Updates

The 2024-2025 COVID vaccine is approved for a second dose those 65 years and older and those that are immunocompromised, at least 2 months from previous dose.

With the rise in measles cases, there are a few things to consider in our elderly population. People born before 1957 are generally considered to have natural immunity. For individuals born between 1957 and 1968 they may have received a less effective version of measles vaccine, and they would be candidates for at least one dose of the current MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine if they wish. If you are unsure of the vaccination status, it is safe to get a MMR vaccine.

General Reminders

• Please page the on-call pharmacist for any admissions or urgent needs after hours, we are not staffed 24/7 at the pharmacy to watch for faxes and/or emails.

• If your facility EMAR is integrated with the pharmacy, new and/or updated narcotic orders do not transmit to us, ONLY refill request and d/c orders. So, if you get a new narcotic order, please either fax or call into the pharmacy.

Anti-Diversion Practices

With increased use of GLPs (Ozempic, Wegovy, Moujaro, Trulicity, Victoza, etc) for weight loss and the high cost, GLPs have become a hot commodity for diversion. To help reduce the risk of diversion is to treat them as if they were a narcotic, use a count sheet to track uses on multi dose pens and qshift count sheets for single dose pens to be sure they don’t grow legs and walk off.

We also recommend that if you are a facility that has a C2 narcotic ekit that you have a sign off sheet for every shift verifying that the ekit is still in the building.

AIMS Assessment

A reminder of the common drugs that require AIMS assessments:

• Reglan (Metoclopramide)
• Antipsychotics (including Compazine (Prochlorperazine) which is typically used only for nausea/vomiting)

While the regulations are vague on the frequency of AIMS assessments, we recommend that they be done quarterly to monitor any changes.

LTC/SNF Survey Trends

• Stop dates on PRN psychotropic. Per CMS regulations, there are NO exceptions (exempt diagnosis, pay status, hospice) to this regulation

• Documentation for psychotropics

• Non pharm interventions

• Monitoring of targeted behaviors

• Consent for use

• Thorough documentation of GDR declination