Mapping Medications

ControlCheck Formulary

ControlCheck receives all the information of the medications from your source systems during the implementation period, before going live, in order to build the ControlCheck formulary for your hospital. ControlCheck uses this formulary to match medications from multiple source files (e.g. ADC, EMR, Narc Vault, etc.) to each other in order to reconcile events. Without the system being told that medication A in system 1 is the same as medication B in system 2, it is impossible to have automatic reconciliation. 

In some cases, such as when a medication is added after going live with ControlCheck, medications will be unfamiliar to the system and therefore will require mapping by a ControlCheck Manager at your hospital. As we see new medications in your source files that we have not seen before and were not a part of your original ControlCheck formulary, we will identify these medications as unmapped. Unlike creating a new product or adding a medication in an EMR or ADC system, since ControlCheck is identifying the medications from those systems, the process for identifying and mapping new items in ControlCheck is much more efficient and requires less manual input. 

This article will explain how to navigate the Medication Mapper tool to resolve pending unmapped medications you wish to audit, as well as those you do not want to audit.

What does the red badge next to the Manage tab mean?

This red badge indicates the number of items that need to be mapped; it could be users, locations, or medications that require mapping.

To resolve medications that require mapping in the application, ControlCheck managers can access the Medication Mapper feature within the Formulary by first selecting the Manage tab in the ControlCheck navigation bar, then selecting the Formulary link on the left side of the screen.

Mapping Medications

The Formulary will display three tabs at the top of the screen. These tabs include the various medications from your source systems, organized by their mapping status. 

Unmapped Medications are medications from your source system reports that have not been mapped to ControlCheck's standardized formulary. Mapped Medications are those that have been mapped within ControlCheck. Ignored Medications are the medications that are non-controlled substances or non-supported form factors that have been ignored within your facility.

To map a medication, first begin by looking at the Unmapped: Potentially Controlled column. This is where ControlCheck will indicate unmapped medications that the application has identified as possible controlled, based on medication name. You will be mapping medications to each other or to a generic drug that exists in the system.

ControlCheck will display a table of medications that require mapping with the following column headers:

• Medication Name - Displays the medication name as populated in the source file.
  • The unmapped medication names may contain a value in parenthesis at the end of the name that says either SPLIT or UNMAPPED. Split medications are ones that were previously mapped but require updating or correction. Unmapped meds are new meds that ControlCheck has not seen before and require mapping.
• Potentially Controlled - Indicates if a medication is potentially a controlled substance. 
  • If there is a checkmark in the Potentially Controlled column, this indicates medications that the application has identified as possibly controlled, based on the application name. 
    • If there is not a checkmark, the medication has been identified as not potentially controlled. For example, ControlCheck will not be able to catch brand-name controlled substances, so they will likely appear in the Unmapped: Other section for mapping. Additionally, there might be medications in this section you do not want to audit in ControlCheck. 
    • You can ignore these meds using the selecting the "Ignore" button. If there are medications listed as not potentially controlled that are controlled or you want to audit the medication, you can still choose to map them despite appearing in this section.
• Source File Type - Displays the source from where the medication data was received.
• Identifiers - Displays the Med ID or NDC from your source files. If you are unsure what the medication is, we recommend plugging that identifier into your source systems to confirm what the correct mapping should be. 
• Pending Patients - Displays a count of patient records that are being blocked from processing by the unmapped medication; it is recommended to prioritize medications that have pending patients because all events for that patient are being blocked from processing until ControlCheck is sure of the medication attributes for those events, which is dependent on the mapping of the unmapped medication. You can select the Pending Patients count link to open a new page and see each patient being blocked, along with the patients' MRN and/or FIN.
• ControlCheck ID - Displays the identifier associated with the med within ControlCheck. 

Once you are ready to map a medication, select the Map button.

Selected Unmapped Medication

ControlCheck will display a table of medications that require mapping with the following column headers:

• Name - will display the existing name for that drug in the ControlCheck formulary.
• Package Size - will display the existing package size for that drug in the ControlCheck formulary. 
• Concentration - will display the existing concentration (or strength) for that drug in the ControlCheck formulary.
• Form Factor - will display one of the following: Oral, Liquid, Patch, and Inj (injectable). 
• PF - will indicate Yes or No to determine if the drug is Preservative Free.

ControlCheck will also suggest existing medications to map the selected unmapped med to in the Existing Medications table.

Use keywords in the Selected Unmapped Medication Name such as "Tab" in the image below to help narrow the list of possible matches. Looking at the Suggested Medications, it appears the only suggested form factor for Oral is a 1 mg concentration/strength. 

If you do not find the correct medication in the suggested list, select the "Click here to select from the full list of medications" link at the bottom of the table.

On this page, you can search all of the available generic medications to map to. Use the Search by Generic Medication field to narrow your search by typing the first few letters of the unmapped medication name. 

In this example below, the search "ALPRAZolam" yielded the results shown in the Generic Medication table. Look for the result that matches the concentration or strength, and form factor of the unmapped med. The generic med of ALPRAZolam 0.5 mg with a form factor of oral is the selected med to map to; select it from the list and click Next.

If you cannot find a drug to map to, please contact ControlCheck Support.  

The last step is to enter the package information. In the Package Size field, enter the package size of the unmapped medication. Use information from the unmapped medication name to determine package size. 

In the example below, the “0.5 mg” implies that the dose, or package size, is 0.5 mg. 

Next, select the Audit State for the medication. You can select “Patient Care” and/or “Pharmacy” or “Do Not Audit This Medication”.

These audit states are based on the specific modules of ControlCheck your facility is using; you may be using both Patient Care and Pharmacy Modules or only one module.

If a medication is mapped to one module only, ControlCheck will only create events for the medication in that specific module selected. If both “Patient Care” and “Pharmacy” are selected, ControlCheck will create events for the medication in both modules. 

If “Not Audited” is selected, the medication is mapped but is not being audited at this time. Please reach out to your project team before mapping medications as “Do Not Audit This Medication.”

Select "Map Identifier' to complete mapping. After successful confirmation, ControlCheck will remove the medication from the Unmapped Medication section and the alert count will reduce by one.

Multi-Chemical Drugs

To map a multi-chemical drug, follow the same steps as the example above. Remember that the SPLIT label in the unmapped medication name does not correlate to multi-chemical medications, but rather just means the medication was previously mapped incorrectly and needs to be remapped.

Multi-chemical drugs will have a concentration of 1 unit because ControlCheck treats these medications as “units” or “each” due to the existence of multiple concentrations/strengths. Multi-chemical drugs should generally be dispensed and administered as a unit of one.

Be sure to enter the package size for a multi-chemical drug as units by using the dropdown next to the Package Size field, then continue to complete the mapping process as shown.

Ignoring Unmapped Medications

ControlCheck will display data for all medications within your source system reports. These medications include those that ControlCheck could not identify as controlled based on medication name or those that are non-supported form factors. 

For example, ControlCheck will not be able to catch brand-name controlled substances, so they will likely appear in the Potentially Non-Controlled list for mapping. There will also likely be medications in this section you do not want to audit in ControlCheck. You can ignore these meds using the Ignore option.

Use the Ignore button for medications that you do not want to audit. Check the medication you would like to ignore, then click Ignore and confirm the decision to ignore the medication. Doing this will remove the unmapped medication from your pending list. 

General Medication Mapping Practices