Because of the increased scrutiny that the DEA regarding any prescription of controlled substances, urinalysis and pill counting are being done to assure that your physician and you can protect the physician’s ability to prescribe your medications. Since the counting of medications may need to occur at times other than during your visits to the clinic, this Telemedical Pill Count Protocol was developed to reduce the burden on the patient of transportation costs, travel time, and physical challenges of getting to the clinic.

Steps:

1. At the time of the telemedical session to count pills, open up the video session.

2. Provide any necessary patient verification that the clinician requires (name, birth date, etc.).

3. Using a cookie tray or other space where pills will be confined, spread out the medication to be counted. Only spread out one medication at a time.

4. Using a straight edge (for example, a business card), line the pills in 10 pill columns, with remain pills less than 10 pills in the last column.

5. Make sure that the camera use are using for the video session (smartphone or computer) will be able to provide close up of the pills for identification (i.e., shape of the pill, color, identifier markings). The clinician may wish to capture a picture of these during the video session for documentation purposes.

6. Follow the directions of the clinician.