CHAPTER 3. POSSESSION OF CERTAIN DRUGS AND OTHER HEALTH CARE ITEMS
IC 16-27-3
Chapter 3. Possession of Certain Drugs and Other Health Care
Items
IC 16-27-3-1
Sterile water or saline
Sec. 1. An employee of a home health agency who is a licensed
pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse may
purchase, store, or transport for administering to a home health
patient or hospice patient of the home health agency under the order
of a licensed physician the following:
(1) Sterile water for injection and irrigation.
(2) Sterile saline for injection and irrigation.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-2
Vaccines
Sec. 2. (a) An employee of a home health agency who is a
licensed pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse may
purchase, store, or transport a vaccine in order to administer the
vaccine to:
(1) the home health agency's:
(A) employees; or
(B) home health patients or hospice patients; or
(2) family members of a home health patient or hospice patient;
under the order of a licensed physician.
(b) An employee described in subsection (a) who purchases,
stores, or transports a vaccine under this section must ensure that a
standing order for the vaccine:
(1) is signed and dated by a licensed physician;
(2) identifies the vaccine covered by the order;
(3) indicates that appropriate procedures are established for
responding to any adverse reaction to the vaccine; and
(4) directs that a specific medication or category of medication
be administered if a recipient has an adverse reaction to the
vaccine.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-3
Other drugs
Sec. 3. An employee of a home health agency who is a licensed
pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse may
purchase, store, or transport the following drugs in order to
administer to a home health patient or hospice patient of the home
health agency, in accordance with section 5 of this chapter:
(1) Any of the following items in a sealed portable container in
a size determined by the dispensing pharmacist:
(A) Up to one thousand (1,000) milliliters of nine-tenths of
one percent (0.9%) sodium chloride intravenous infusion.
(B) Up to one thousand (1,000) milliliters of five percent
(5%) dextrose in water injection.
(2) Not more than five (5) dosage units of each of the following
items, each in an individually sealed, unused container:
(A) Heparin sodium lock flush in a concentration of ten (10)
units per milliliter, one hundred (100) units per milliliter, or
one thousand (1,000) units per milliliter.
(B) Epinephrine HC1 solution in a concentration of one (1)
to one thousand (1,000).
(C) Diphenhydramine HCl solution in a concentration of
fifty (50) milligrams per milliliter.
(D) Methylprednisolone in a concentration of one hundred
twenty-five (125) milligrams per two (2) milliliters.
(E) Naloxone in a concentration of up to one (1) milligram
per milliliter in a two (2) milliliter vial.
(F) Glucagon in a concentration of one (1) milligram per
milliliter.
(G) Furosemide in a concentration of ten (10) milligrams per
milliliter.
(H) Lidocaine two and one-half percent (2.5%) and
prilocaine two and one-half percent (2.5%) cream in a five
(5) gram tube.
(I) Lidocaine HCl solution in a concentration of one percent
(1%) in a two (2) milliliter vial.
(J) Urokinase five thousand (5,000) units per a one (1)
milliliter vial.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-4
Transportation of drugs in sealed portable container by
pharmacist or nurse
Sec. 4. An employee of a home health agency who is a licensed
pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse may
purchase, store, or transport drugs in a sealed portable container
under this chapter only if the home health agency has established
written policies and procedures to ensure the following:
(1) That the container is handled properly with respect to
storage, transportation, and temperature stability.
(2) That a drug is removed from the container only on the
written or oral order of a licensed physician.
(3) That the administration of a drug in the container is
performed in accordance with a specific treatment protocol.
(4) That the home health agency maintains a written record of
the dates and times the container is in the possession of a
licensed pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical
nurse.
(5) That the home health agency require an employee who
possesses the container to submit a daily accounting of all drugs
and devices in the container to the home health agency in
writing.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-5
Administering drugs by pharmacist or nurse
Sec. 5. An employee of a home health agency who:
(1) is a licensed pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed
practical nurse; and
(2) administers a drug listed in section 3 of this chapter;
may administer the drug only in the residence of a home health
patient or hospice patient of the home health agency under the order
of a licensed physician in connection with the provision of
emergency treatment or the adjustment of parenteral drug therapy or
vaccine administration.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-6
Physician's orders to pharmacist or nurse to administer drugs
Sec. 6. (a) If an employee of a home health agency who is a
licensed pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse
administers a drug listed in section 3 of this chapter under the oral
order of a licensed physician, the physician shall promptly send a
signed copy of the order to the home health agency.
(b) Not more than twenty (20) days after receiving an order under
subsection (a), the home health agency shall send a copy of the order,
as signed by and received from the physician, to the dispensing
pharmacy.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-7
Duties of pharmacist regarding drug containers
Sec. 7. A pharmacist who dispenses a sealed portable container
under this chapter shall ensure that the container:
(1) is designed to allow access to the contents of the container
only if a tamperproof seal is broken;
(2) bears a label that lists the drugs in the container and
provides notice of the container's expiration date; and
(3) remains in the pharmacy or under the control of a licensed
pharmacist, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.
IC 16-27-3-8
Honoring nurse's orders
Sec. 8. If a home health agency or hospice patient's care or
treatment is being managed, directed, or provided by an advanced
practice nurse licensed under IC 25-23, that nurses's orders will be
honored, unless it will cause the home health agency or hospice to be
unreimbursed for their service.
As added by P.L.105-1998, SEC.2.