Presenting Audit Documentation Electronically - A Survey of Pharmacies

Providing documentation during a pharmacy audit is always a challenge. Perhaps you’ve seen carts of binders and files being rolled to wherever the audit team is located. The virtual surveys brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have added another layer of complexity. Manual (paper) records must somehow be presented to an inspector, either one at a time via webcam or by scanning to a file and allowing remote access. At a practical level, these records all need to be double handled – first when the data is recorded, and a second time to make them digitally available.

Some aspects of remote inspections work well, especially for the accrediting or auditing agency. Travel costs are reduced, the time spent traveling to and from client locations is eliminated, and audit teams can now be as large and as specialized as they need to be without cost as a limiting factor.

However, the audit landscape is beginning its slow march towards a new normal. In their recent announcement, The Joint Commission announced that unannounced onsite surveys would return on March 15, 2021.^1,2 “Enhanced technology” is listed as one continuing approach, so some aspects of virtual inspections are here to stay. Other agencies are certain to follow suit.

As the pharmacy industry deals with this new challenge, StaffReady has conducted a limited survey of pharmacy leaders at various institutions across the US. We present a few of our final results here - feel free to download the entire survey.

You can download a free PDF copy of the survey results by clicking the button below:

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The survey was anonymous, and all participants will receive the results of the full survey now that the results are tabulated and published.

What is your process of documenting medication unit inspections – Paper, Electronic, or a Mix? How is that going?

Over half of the respondents indicated that they had some sort of an electronic solution in place, while 11% indicated they used a mix of paper and electronic systems. Fully 33% stated that paper was the only way in which these records were kept.

Do you currently utilize an electronic documentation system to support your needs when presenting department information during a virtual or onsite visit?

Nearly 90% of the survey respondents stated that they had some sort of electronic system outside of their pharmacy management system which was used to provide documentation during an inspection. However, nearly all respondents stated that they had pockets of paper records that would have to be scanned for remote viewing.

What type of functionality do you feel is missing?

The most common response here was a lack of centralization - multiple systems had to be accessed. Most institutions stated that scanning paper records took time that they simply did not have, and made for a mad scramble on the day(s) of inspection. Less than 17% of respondents felt that their current functionality was acceptable.

Understanding, measuring, and mitigating the impacts of managing virtual inspections or "enhanced technologies" during a survey by an accrediting or state agency is key to your success. At StaffReady, our goal is to bring new efficiencies to your organization through our software.

If this topic is of interest to you, stay tuned. We will have some news soon on a new StaffReady module that can assist pharmacies, laboratories, imaging centers, and other hospital departments with reducing or eliminating paper record keeping.

StaffReady healthcare software provides cloud-based solutions that automate staff scheduling, competency assessment, document control and checklist management for healthcare organizations. StaffReady is Clinical Workforce Management Software.

1.) https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/news-and-multimedia/newsletters/newsletters/joint-commission-online/march-10-2021/

2.) TJC Inspections in the COVID-19 Era, https://www.pppmag.com/article/2717, accessed 05/12/2021

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