In 2016, the Department of Health and the Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission began piloting an integrated hospital and pharmacy inspection process. The goal is to increase the coordination between these two related inspection processes and include pharmacy topics in the entrance and exit conferences the department uses during hospital inspections.
“We hope this new process helps both the hospital inspection and pharmacy inspection teams minimize the disruption on facilities from separate surveys, and provides facilities with better feedback for compliance,” Commission Executive Director Steve Saxe said.
The pilot will continue during the next couple of months with the department conducting several unannounced surveys. At the conclusion of the pilot, the department will conduct an assessment of the new inspection process to determine whether it should be continued. WSHA has been advocating for new approaches to the pharmacy inspection process and is pleased that the department is piloting innovative solutions. (Ian Corbridge)
