Does JACO require me to maintain temperature logs for medication storage refrigerators and freezers?
Joint Commission does not specifically require temperature logs for refrigerators and freezers used for medication storage. Standard MM.2.20 requires that medications be stored under necessary conditions to ensure stability. EC.6.10 additionally requires that you describe and implement processes to maintain and monitor equipment performance. If your organization chooses to use temperature monitoring to achieve this, the monitoring method must track temperature in an ongoing fashion to indicate whether or not internal temperature has deviated from the required ranges for all drugs stored. In addition, the organization should have a defined process outlining disposition of medication from a refrigerator or freezer which has deviated from the recommended temperature range.
