Home Health & Hospice Week

If you're accredited by the Joint Commission, you'll want to be especially careful to pay attention to a clarification on the use of multi-dose vials of medication.

The problem: Multi-dose vials come with expiration dates based on the vial being unopened. "Once a vial cap is removed or the vial is punctured, the expiration date is no longer valid," the organization formerly known as JCAHO says on its website.

The solution: Once the vial is open, "a revised expiration date (also called the 'beyond-use date' in pharmaceutical terminology) needs to be identified," the Joint Commission says. And you need to label the vial with the new expiration date.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and the United States Pharmacopeia recently recommended that multi-dose vials be used for no more than 28 days, so the Commission has adopted that requirement, it says. "The Joint Commission bases this 28-day time frame on the fact that manufacturers are required by law to test the effectiveness of the bacteriostatic agent used in the multi-dose vial for a period of 28 days," adds the Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based accrediting body.

The time limit doesn't apply to vaccines, which have different requirements, the Commission points out.