Update on Standard MM 4.10 in the Emergency Department (ED)

From the Joint Commission:

Effective April 6, 2007, the interim action was suspended for Standard MM.4.10, Element of Performance 1 that required a retrospective review of all medication orders in the Emergency Department (ED) by a pharmacist when a prospective review was not conducted. The interim action was implemented on January 1, 2007 for EDs in hospitals and critical access hospitals.

The decision to suspend the interim action was based on several concerns cited by the field, including the lack of prior hospital pharmacist involvement in the ED setting, the costs to hospitals of providing additional pharmacist manpower to support medication review of any type in the ED, and the frequent unavailability of pharmacists because of the long-standing pharmacist shortage.