Customizable Medication Tags

Medication Tags are visual indicators used to label Routine and PRN orders with specific characteristics. These tags help your clinical team audit medications, remain compliant with state regulations, and ensure staff safety during med passes. The list of available tags can be fully customized in your Medications Settings. 

About Medication Tags 

Medication Tags serve as critical safety alerts for your clinical team, ensuring compliance with state regulations and keeping staff informed of specific protocols (such as "Crush") during a med pass. 

Once a tag is applied, it is prominently displayed in the following ALIS locations:

• Pass Meds: Alerts Med Techs to specific protocols in real-time.

• Manage Orders: Allows for easy auditing of a resident's profile.

• MAR Documents: Ensures paper and digital records remain consistent.

• Medication List Report: Facilitates high-level oversight of medication types. 

Manual vs. Automatic Tagging: While most tags (like "Antibiotic") are manually selected when creating or processing orders, ALIS can be configured to automatically tag Controlled Substances and Psychotropic medications using the integrated Drug Database.

Customize the Medication Tags list

You can tailor the list of available tags to match your community's specific needs by navigating to Medications Settings > Medcation Tags section. ALIS auto-generates a list of options that can be fully customized. 

The ALIS default Medication Tag list is:

• Antibiotic

• Controlled Substance* (Can be automated via Drug Database)

• Narcotic* (Can be used to separate Narcotic vs. Non-Narcotic drug counts)

• Psychotropic Drug* (Can be automated via Drug Database and custom rules)

• Court Ordered

• Hazardous

• Crush / Do Not Crush

• Non-standard Psychotropic

*The Narcotic, Controlled, and Psychotropic tags are permanent and cannot be disabled. All other auto-generated tags can be disabled by clicking Disable on the righthand side of the settings table.

To add a new tag:

1. Click +Add Tag.

2. In the pop-up that appears, type the Name.

3. Click Submit.

Automate Medication Tags

Automation reduces manual entry errors for sensitive medications: Controlled Substances and Psychotropic Drugs. 

For automation to occur, the Drug Database entitlement must be turned on and enabled for your community. For enablement assistance, contact your Account Manager or our ALIS Customer Success Team. 

Controlled Substance Auto-Tagging

ALIS automatically applies this tag if:

• You have an active Pharmacy Integration.

• The RX NDC number sent by the pharmacy matches a controlled substance in the Drug Database.

Psychotropic Drug Auto-Tagging

Since state regulations vary, you define the rules for what ALIS considers a psychotropic:

1. Navigate to Settings > Medications > Psychotropic Tagging tab.

2. Click Enable Psychotropic Auto Tagging.

3. Click +Add.

4. Search by Drug Name or GPI Segment (use the GPI Index for reference).

5. Select the applicable categories and click Submit.

Note: These rules work retroactively. If you add a rule today, ALIS will identify existing orders and apply the "Psychotropic" tag to any matching medications on the eMAR automatically. 

For more information on Psychotropic Auto-Tagging, refer to this How to set up Psychotropic Auto-Tagging Rules guide.

Manually Apply Medication Tags

If a medication does not meet auto-tagging criteria (like "Do Not Crush"), you must manually apply them to an order.

1. Go to the resident’s Manage Orders page or the Pharmacy Inbox.

   • Manage Orders: Click +Add Routine/PRN or click Edit on an existing order. 

   • Pharmacy Inbox (Incoming Orders tab): Click Process.

2. In the order details, look for the Medication Tags multi-select dropdown.

3. Select the appropriate tags. They will now be visible to the Med Tech during the pass. 

4. Click Create Order, Update Order, or Process to apply the tags. 

Medication List Report 

Using tags consistently allows for powerful medications oversight through the Medication List Report.

1. Go to Reports > Medication List.

2. Use the Medication Tags dropdown filter to select specific categories (e.g., "Narcotic" or "Psychotropic").

3. Click Refresh.

Export to Excel: The tags will occupy their own column, allowing you to sort and filter your entire community's medication data instantly.

Related Articles: 

• What are Medication Tags?
• How are medications automatically tagged as "Controlled"? 
• How to set up Psychotropic Auto-Tagging Rules
• Medications Settings Guide

For more assistance with Medication Tags,

Contact our ALIS Customer Success Team:

888.404.ALIS (2547) or support@go-alis.com