LTC Pharmacy @ Home Guidelines
The Alliance for Long-Term Care Pharmacy @ Home is dedicated to ensuring that patients who receive care at home have access to the same high-quality pharmacy services as those in institutional settings. To support this effort, we convened an expert panel to develop clear guidelines for pharmacies providing LTC pharmacy services in the home based on CMS’s existing standards for long-term care facilities. These guidelines include critical elements such as medication inventory management, pharmacy operations, special packaging, IV medication availability, pharmacist on-call services, and emergency delivery protocols.
These standards establish a consistent framework for LTC pharmacy services in the home, ensuring that patients receive timely medication access, appropriate pharmacist oversight, and emergency support — all critical components of comprehensive medication management for medically complex individuals. The documents present these requirements in two formats: (1) a paragraph-style version that integrates the original CMS guidance with the Alliance’s recommendations, and (2) a table version that clearly delineates each standard and how it applies to LTC pharmacy services at home.
These standards establish a consistent framework for LTC pharmacy services in the home, ensuring that patients receive timely medication access, appropriate pharmacist oversight, and emergency support — all critical components of comprehensive medication management for medically complex individuals. The documents present these requirements in two formats: (1) a paragraph-style version that integrates the original CMS guidance with the Alliance’s recommendations, and (2) a table version that clearly delineates each standard and how it applies to LTC pharmacy services at home.