Physicians interested in
recommending medical cannabis
are already completing the two
hours of continuing medical
education credit necessary before
applying for a Certificate to
Recommend from the State of Ohio.
The Ohio Medical Board projects the
application for a Certificate to
Recommend will be available in the
Spring of 2018. Physicians have also
been brushing up on how to
properly recommend medical
cannabis by utilizing my Ohio
Physician’s Guide To Cannabis
Physicians interested in recommending medical cannabis are already completing the two hours of continuing medical education credit necessary before applying for a Certificate to Recommend from the State of Ohio. The Ohio Medical Board projects the application for a Certificate to Recommend will be available in the Spring of 2018. Physicians have also been brushing up on how to properly recommend medical cannabis by utilizing my Ohio Physician’s Guide To Cannabis Compliance. Clearly, physicians are preparing themselves for this new form of treatment, but for Ohio hospitals, the question remains, are you ready?
Are you prepared to allow your physicians to recommend medical cannabis to a patient? What if an inpatient with a recommendation has medical cannabis in her pocket – will you allow her to keep it? Should she self-administer her recommendation or should a physician or mid-level provider do that? Would that violate the Controlled Substances Act? How will the medical cannabis interact with other drugs the patient has already received? Could the hospital lose its Medicare enrollment or other federal licenses? Should the hospital take the medical cannabis and store it until the patient needs another dosage? It’s dizzying, I know.
These are just some of the questions that need to be addressed by an Ohio hospital’s leadership before the medical cannabis program begins in September of this year. Hospitals need to understand the risks associated with medical cannabis and have clear policies addressing how the hospital will handle the new treatment. If a hospital will allow medical cannabis, it must ensure that its policies detail procedures that strictly comply with Ohio’s medical cannabis law to firmly protect against any potential federal prosecution under the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amend-ment (the “Amendment”).
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Compliance. Clearly, physicians are preparing themselves for this new form of treatment, but for Ohio hospitals, the question remains, are you ready?
Are you prepared to allow your physicians to recommend medical cannabis to a patient? What if an inpatient with a recommendation has medical cannabis in her pocket – will you allow her to keep it? Should she self-administer her recommendation or should a physician or mid-level provider do that? Would that violate the Controlled Substances Act? How will the medical cannabis interact with other drugs the patient has already received? Could the hospital lose its Medicare enrollment or other federal licenses? Should the hospital take the medical cannabis and store it until the patient needs another dosage? It’s dizzying, I know.
These are just some of the questions that need to be addressed by an Ohio hospital’s leadership before the medical cannabis program begins in September of this year. Hospitals need to understand the risks associated with medical cannabis and have clear policies addressing how the hospital will handle the new treatment. If a hospital will allow medical cannabis, it must ensure that its policies detail procedures that strictly comply with Ohio’s medical cannabis law to firmly protect against any potential federal prosecution under the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amend-ment (the “Amendment”).