How to Adjust Drug Quantity

Update the drug quantity and correct the Drug Count by either increasing, decreasing, or zeroing out the amount. This guide outlines how to utilize the three types of quantity adjustment options: Adjust Count, Refill Count, and Destroy Medication.

About Drug Quantity Adjustments

Drug quantity adjustments are used to ensure medication inventory in ALIS accurately reflects physical stock. These updates may be performed during a Drug Count or from medication management workflows when discrepancies are identified.

To maintain accuracy and accountability, adjustment actions are permission-based and may be restricted depending on user role.

User Permissions

Users must be assigned specific security role permissions to perform:

• Refill Count
• Adjust Count
• Destroy Medication

These permissions are managed by ALIS and typically configured for administrators or nursing staff. Communities may also restrict which users can access specific adjustment types or locations.

For assistance with permissions, contact your Account Manager or the ALIS Customer Success Team.

Where Drug Quantity is Updated

Routine and PRN orders must be enabled for the Drug Count to track the quantity. For instructions, refer to this How to Enable Medications for the Drug Count guide.

Once medication orders are enabled for Drug Count tracking, quantity adjustments can be made from:

1. In the Drug Count when performing a Drug Count 
2. In Pass Meds ('Destroy Medication' option only) 
3. The Manage Quantity page. Users with specific security role permissions can access the Manage Quantity page either from the Drug Quantities Report or a resident's Manage Orders page. 

1 - In the Drug Count

2 - Pass Meds (Destroy Medication only)

3 - Manage Quantity page ('View Only' security role permission of Manage Orders)

Refill Count 

The Refill Count option allows a user to increase the total amount of drug units in ALIS.  

When adding a refill, the user must enter the amount that the count increased by rather than entering the new total.

Example:

• The last Quantity in ALIS was 37 CAPS but the Actual quantity is 97 CAPS due to a refill of 60 CAPS that was received. In the Refill Medication pop-up that appears, the user must enter refill amount of '60' into the Quantity field. 

Refills are recorded immediately in ALIS. In some communities, two-person verification is required for refills, where a second staff member verifies and authenticates the transaction before it is finalized, based on community configuration. Two-person verification for refills is configured in Drug Count Settings.

Destroy Medication 

The Destroy Medication option allows a user to decrease the total amount of drug units in ALIS. It is recommended to only allow certain staff to have this permission that can properly verify what qualifies for drug destruction. 

When destroying a medication, the user must enter the amount that needs to be destroyed rather than entering the new total. 

Example:

• If 1 UNIT of an order needs to be destroyed then the user would enter '1' in the Quantity field. (If 10 CAPS needed to be destroyed, the user would enter '10'). 

The user is also required to provide the Reason the medication needs to be destroyed as well as the Destruction Method. Destruction Methods are configured in Drug Count Settings.

Destroy actions always require two-person verification, regardless of community settings:

• Person 1: Initiating user
• Person 2: Witness who selects their name and authenticates with password

Adjust Count 

The Adjust Count option allows a user to increase or decrease the total amount of drug units in ALIS. It is recommended to only allow a select few users to adjust counts as typically, policy and operational protocol are necessary before an adjustment should be made. Using the Adjust Count function should be the last option your team chooses before exhausting other ways to match the quantity in ALIS with the quantity in real life. 

To increase the quantity, the user must enter the amount that the count increased by rather than entering the new total. 

To decrease the quantity, the user must type the minus sign (-) before the amount to indicate the amount difference. 

Example: 

• If the Actual quantity is one unit less than the quantity stored in ALIS the user must enter '-1'. 

The user is required to state the Reason that the quantity in ALIS does not match the quantity in real life. This step can be particularly helpful for indicating the rationale for an investigation about a potential drug diversion when the mismatch reason is unknown.

Adjustments are recorded immediately in ALIS. In some communities, two-person verification is required for refills, where a second staff member verifies and authenticates the transaction before it is finalized, based on community configuration. Two-person verification for adjustments is configured in Drug Count Settings. 

Drug Quantity Reporting Tools

There are many helpful reporting tools that you can use for successful Drug Quantity auditing: the Manage Quantity pages, the Drug Quantities Report, and the Drug Count Transactions Report. 

• The Manage Quantity page provides a full audit of quantity adjustments, including those due to medications being recorded as passed. 

• The Drug Quantities Report provides an overview of Current Qty (Quantity) per resident order. From this report page, you can also click on the convenient History button to be automatically directed to the Manage Quantity page for that specific order.

•  The Drug Transactions Report provides an overview of the Quantity (or amount adjusted) and the Transaction (Txn) Type in an easy-to-read format.

Related Articles:

• How to Perform a Drug Count
• Enabling Medications for the Drug Count
• Drug Count Settings

For more assistance: 888.404.ALIS (2547)  |  support@go-alis.com