Hospital Policies and Documentation

A. Background

iii. Determining your hospital's policies

What do U.S. hospitals do with their own dietary supplement policies?

While Joint Commission mandates a certain standard for hospital policies on HDS, hospitals have adapted different ways to implement these policies. Institutions therefore report a wide variety of approaches to patients' use of "home supply" of HDS. For example, some hospitals confiscate them; others expressly prohibit their use (Bazzie, 2006; Cohen, 2005). Some institutions allow inpatients to use their own HDS, and most institutions require a physician order to allow patients to use their home supply.

Additional restrictions also include: waivers or consent forms, safety assurance checks, product identifications, consults with dietitians, unopened bottle and toxicology consults (Ansani, 2003). It would appear that the requirement for a physician order for patients’ home supply HDS use emerged as a national standard, provoking the question of physicians’ training and confidence in making evidence-based decisions about such use (Walker, 2000).

Policies in your hospital

Because every hospital will differ in their policies and protocols for handling patients' herbal and dietary supplements, it will be your responsibility to look them up and to understand them. However, it is often the case where navigating the hospital website is a difficult task. Below are some places to look for policy documents on herbal and dietary supplement use.

Places to Look

• Check on your hospital pharmacy's website, and look for links for "Policies" or "Procedures"
• Call the hospital's Pharmacy
• Inquiring with the Pharmacy and Therapeutic committee

Here, we will use two examples of policies in place at Boston Medical Center and University of Kentucky HealthCare Hospital as an illustrative example for Mr. Gomez's inpatient stay. Choose one example below.

Boston University Medical Center (PDF)

University of Kentucky Hospital (PDF)