# Inpatient M edication Orders for Outpatients (Overview)

Note: IMO features will not be available in the CPRS until patch SD*5.3*285 is installed in your account. This patch is currently under development.

The Inpatient Medications for Outpatients (IMO) project is desi gned to enable a CPRS user in an authorized location to order unit-dose medications or intravenous (IV) medications that are dispensed by inpatient pharmacy and administered to an outpatient in a clinic setting. IMO allows VistA order checks to function f o r such medication orders. Each site must decide which clinics should be defined as IMO locations and then IRM or CAC staff will need to set up those locations.

On the Orders tab, CPRS displays IMO unit-dose orders, IV Fluid (Infusion) orders, and Nursing text orders written in an IMO location under a new display group named Clinic Orders. To show under the Clinic Orders display group, Nursing text orders must have the display group of Nursing and must be ordered from an authorized IMO location. If they are note ordered from an IMO location, the Nursing text orders will display under the Nursing display group. This includes text orders that are part of an order set.

Note: If IMO Nursing orders do not display where expected, they may not be set up properly. IRM or CAC personnel should check the CPRS Technical Manual: GUI Version for more information.

This example shows the Order tab with all three types of orders--unit-dose, intravenous (IV), and nursing text only orders--that ca n appear under the IMO display group of Clinic Orders.

On the Meds tab, IMO medication orders of all statuses except unreleased orders display at the top of the Inpatient Medications pane before other inpatient medications orders. Nursing text orders do n ot display on the Meds tab. User can distinguish IMO orders because they have an entry in the Location column of the Meds tab display.

Note: IMO orders are affected by both CPRS auto-DC rules and Inpatient Medications rules for auto-discontinuing orders on admission and discharge. If sites do not want IMO orders to auto-discontinue on admission and discharge, sites will have to ensure that neither CPRS nor Inpatient Medications discontinues IMO orders. Inpatient Medications uses the AUTO-DC IMO ORDERS parameter to exclude IMO orders from being discontinued.

Criteria for Ordering Inpatient Medications for Outpatients

To successfully write an IMO order, the outpatient must meet at least one of the following criteria:

· He or she must have a scheduled appointment at an authorized hospital/clinic location for the current day or a day in the future

· He or she must be currently checked in at an authorized hospital/clinic location

Note: If the patient does not meet either of these criteria, you can create a new visit for the patient at an authorized hospital location. To create a new visit, select the Provider/Encounter button (shown below), select the Visit tab, select New, and then select OK.

In addition, before you can use the Meds tab to place IMO orders, your site's CAC (or the person who manages information resources at your site) must set up the new medication order dialog to include inpatient medications.

Related Topics

Ordering Inpatien t Medications for Outpatients (Meds tab)

Ordering Inpatient Medications for Outpatients (Orders tab)

Sorting the Medications View

Changing or Copying IMO Orders