Guidance Regarding Travel to Certain Countries Outside the U.S.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently experiencing an outbreak of Ebola virus disease, and Nigeria has recently experienced ongoing transmission of Lassa fever. It is important to identify and isolate patients under investigation for viral hemorrhagic fever when they arrive at a Hopkins hospital or facility and to inform the infection prevention staff, who will provide appropriate guidance and support to clinical teams.
Travel screening in Epic has been updated effective Tuesday, June 12, so that it triggers a best practice alert for any patient who reports recent travel (within the past 21 days) to the DRC or Nigeria and who also reports signs and symptoms that prompt further evaluation for possible exposure to viral hemorrhagic fever.
See the resources that have been posted on the Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control intranet site at intranet.insidehopkinsmedicine.org/heic and websites below for more information. Also, please make sure your staff members are aware of the travel screening.
Outbreak news: who.int/csr/don/en/sc
Ebola: cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html
Lassa: cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/index.html
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Mandated Use for Prescribers
This applies to all JHH credentialed staff who prescribe controlled substances.
You are no doubt aware of the Johns Hopkins Medicine and statewide efforts to address the opioid epidemic.
Effective, July 1, 2018, Maryland law requires controlled dangerous substances (CDS) prescribers and pharmacists to review the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) before prescribing or renewing opioids and benzodiazepines. See the below fact sheet that provides details and includes some exceptions to this requirement.
We have been working to make sure this can be done seamlessly inside Epic. In March, we made available PDMP information within Epic (see below tip sheets). On June 14, we rolled out a new capability in Epic that enables prescribers to fulfill the state requirement to document review of the PDMP in the medical record. This can be done by using the “Mark As Reviewed” button in the PDMP display or acknowledging a Best Practice Alert that contains the PDMP report.
