Oral contraceptives have a variety of uses; within the inpatient behavioral health population, omission of prescribed oral contraceptives can cause changes in mood, adverse mental health symptoms, and possible unintended pregnancy. The continuation of prescribed medications throughout hospital admission is an important component of high-quality inpatient care and Joint Commission Standards. A chart review of a local inpatient psychiatry and psychology (IPP) unit from 2022 and 2023 revealed that out of 730 total days in 2022 and 2023, there were 277 patient admission days (38%) in which 51 patients should have received their oral contraceptive while admitted to the IPP unit. A total of 34 patients (66%) with 38 occurrences of 141 patient admission days (51%) did not receive their oral contraceptive while admitted to the IPP unit. There were 17 patients (33%) with 21 occurrences of 136 patient admission days (49%) that did receive their oral contraceptive while admitted to the IPP unit. Chart review results informed the need for an oral contraception procurement workflow. A quality improvement project with the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework to improve female behavioral health inpatient’s access to their prescribed oral contraception was developed. In January 2025, an oral contraception procurement workflow was implemented. The workflow involves inpatient staff ordering a monthly pack of the patient’s oral contraceptive from the onsite outpatient pharmacy to be delivered to the IPP unit to reduce missed medication administrations. Data is being collected from January 20, 2025-April 30, 2025. Thus far, the workflow has shown to be effective in improving oral contraception access (N = 2, n = 2, 100%). The creation of an oral contraception procurement workflow addressed a patient care gap for a potentially vulnerable and frequently marginalized patient population.
