On accreditation of healthcare organizations. Determining eligibility for Accreditation of Home Pharmaceutical Services.

Many misperceptions exist in the health care community about the Joint Commission's accreditation of home pharmaceutical services, primarily related to when pharmacy services are considered home care and which patients or services are eligible for survey. This article concentrates on eligibility for survey and accreditation of just one of the six eligible home care services-home pharmaceutical services. The concept of home care and pharmaceutical services is difficult for most people to understand. Unlike other home care services, pharmacy services cannot be provided directly in the patient's home. Pharmacy laws prohibit pharmacists from compounding and dispensing directly in the patient's home. The pharmacists must do these activities in a licensed pharmacy. Also, most patients who receive medications from pharmacies take their own medications in their homes. So the differences between home care pharmacy and ambulatory or retail pharmacy are much less clear-cut than the delivery of more traditional home care services such as nursing or home health aide services.