Corporate Compliance

Steps for a drug-purchasing audit

Healthcare Auditing Weekly, March 15, 2005

An audit of the internal workings of your organization's pharmacy will ensure that effective controls are in place for purchasing drugs. When conducting the audit, follow these steps:

  • Pull a sample of completed purchase orders, including some with controlled drugs

  • Verify the accurateness and appropriateness of everything on the purchase orders

  • Verify that the amounts ordered are reasonably consistent with the par levels set for the perpetual inventory

  • Trace prices to price sheets or vendor contracts

  • For controlled substances, ensure that the pharmacy uses form DEA 222 (the US Drug Enforcement Administration for ordering controlled substances)

  • Watch for orders for nonformulary drugs-there should be special approval for these drugs

  • Observe personnel as they receive, count, and stock a drug shipment

  • Observe or ask how the pharmacy handles shortages and damaged drugs

    Look for next week's issue when we talk about auditing controls for drug storage, counting, and safe-keeping.

    The above tip is an excerpt from the book "Hospital Auditing and Monitoring: Sample Programs for Key Risk Areas." Copyright 2004 by HCPro, Inc. This book is a step-by-step, practical manual that offers sample audit programs for the most troublesome areas that a hospital must audit. The binder and CD-ROM are filled with actual audit programs used by auditors and compliance officers in the field. Click here for more information or to order your copy today.

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