Medical cannabis patient assessment checklist
Medical cannabis patient assessment checklist
Medical cannabis can be a helpful treatment for patients, but it isn’t a good option for everyone. It has a lot of complex factors that you need to consider so patients who use it stay safe and have the best treatment outcomes.
Use this page to screen, teach, and create a treatment plan for your patients.
Ask these questions to decide if medical cannabis is right for your patient.
Step 1: Do they have a qualifying condition?
- Acute pain that lasts 2 weeks or longer for an short-term condition, like a surgery
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- autism
- cachexia
- cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- debilitating seizures
- epilepsy
- HIV or AIDs
- hospice care
- terminal illness
- multiple sclerosis (MS)
- persistent nausea
- persistent pain
- persistent and debilitating muscle spasms
- PTSD
- rare conditions as defined by the National Institutes of Health
- ulcerative colitis
You can petition the Compassionate Use Board (CUB) if your patient doesn’t have a qualifying condition, but would benefit from using medical cannabis.
Step 2: Is medical cannabis a good fit for them?
How old are they?
Medical cannabis is most effective for adults. Patients younger than 21 years need to petition the Compassionate Use Board to get a medical cannabis card.
Do they have other health conditions?
Cannabis isn’t a safe or effective treatment for some health conditions, like pregnancy, breastfeeding, heart disease, and some mental health conditions.
Pregnancy
- Cannabis crosses the placenta during pregnancy and can affect the baby’s growth.
- Women who are pregnant or planning for a pregnancy shouldn’t use cannabis.
Breastfeeding
- Cannabis crosses into breast milk. Research is unclear on if there are negative health outcomes for babies who drink breast milk with cannabis in it.
- Experts recommend that people who are breastfeeding don’t use cannabis until we have more research.
- Using cannabis while breastfeeding can decrease milk supply.
Heart disease
- Cannabis increases heart rate and blood pressure.
- People who have heart disease are at a higher risk of a heart attack if they use cannabis.
Some mental health conditions
- Cannabis can make some mental health conditions like schizophrenia and psychosis worse.
- Cannabis may not be a good option for patients with a personal or family history of schizophrenia or psychosis.
Are they taking other medications?
Use a drug interaction checker to check for drug-drug interactions between cannabis and any other medications your patient takes.
Tell them how cannabis can affect other medications:
- They need to tell medical providers and pharmacists that they use medical cannabis.
- Cannabis can affect how much anesthesia or sedatives they need.
- Some medications, like Warfarin (Coumadin), need thorough follow-up with a medical provider when taken with medical cannabis.
- Don’t take medical cannabis with Cilostazol (Pletal), Clopidogrel (Plavix), Clobazam (Onfi or Sympazan), or Citalopram (Celexa).
- Don’t take medical cannabis with anything that makes them feel tired, like alcohol, sleep medicine, or allergy medicine.
Will they need help from another person (a caregiver) to buy and use medical cannabis?
They can choose someone to help them buy and use medical cannabis after they get their medical cannabis card. This person is called a medical cannabis caregiver. Patients can request a medical cannabis caregiver in the Electronic Verification System (EVS).
Have they used cannabis in the past?
Knowing a patient’s experience with cannabis will let you know if they need extra help to figure out the right types and amounts of cannabis to use and how to manage side effects. Talk to them about using cannabis medically instead of recreationally and focus on how cannabis will help them meet their treatment goals.
If medical cannabis is a good fit for them, use these questions to make a treatment plan.
Step 3: Did you teach them about medical cannabis?
Teach them about medical cannabis products, dosing recommendations, possible side effects, and how to use cannabis safely. Refer to a medical cannabis pharmacist for more information or if they have questions you don't know the answers to.
What products and amounts should they use?
- Tell them which products and how much to use. Tell them if you need to defer to the medical cannabis pharmacist.
- Tell them to talk with the pharmacist if they have questions or need help with products or how much to take.
What are the possible side effects?
Common side effects of medical cannabis include:
- Altered senses, like colors looking brighter or losing track of time
- Being tired
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- Dry mouth
- Fast heart rate
- Increased appetite
- Slow reaction times
Do they know how to use cannabis safely?
Teach them how to use cannabis safely so they protect themselves and others from accidents and potential harm.
Store cannabis safely
- Treat medical cannabis like any other prescription.
- Keep it in the pharmacy’s child-resistant packaging.
- Store it in child-proof containers.
- Store it out of kid’s sight and reach.
- Keep the original warning labels on the package.
- Put it away after every use.
Don’t drive after using cannabis
- Cannabis slows down reaction time, impairs judgment, and decreases coordination.
- Call a friend, taxi, or rideshare app if you need to go somewhere after using cannabis.
Step 4: What are your plans for follow-up?
Cannabis is a complicated treatment that needs regular follow-up. Make a treatment with your patient that includes regular follow-up. Make sure they know they can contact you if they have questions or concerns.
Did you set treatment goals with them?
- Talk to them about the effects they'd like to see while using cannabis. Use this discussion to set treatment goals. Setting treatment goals can help them use appropriate products and amounts of cannabis, and limit unwanted side effects.
Will they track their medical cannabis use?
- Encourage them to track the product and amount they use and any effects they notice.
- Tracking medical cannabis use will help you provide follow-up, adjust your dosing recommendations, and give education.
- They can use a tracking journal from Center for Medical Cannabis website.
Do they feel safe talking to you about cannabis?
- Create a safe space where they can ask questions and talk about their concerns. This will give you information you need to provide follow-up, adjust your dosing recommendations, and give education.