How Will Your Drug Diversion Program Stand Up to Increasing Scrutiny?
It’s the question on everyone’s mind these days as laws are changing to make audits more frequent (California has recently imposed quarterly audits), while the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are increasingly investigating and charging corporate and pharmacy executives with criminal acts.
Russ Nix, a member of the board of advisors for Healthcare Diversion.org, was recently published in Healthcare Business Today. His article gives excellent suggestions and how-to’s for evaluating and improving your drug detection programs.
Here are a few of his suggestions:
—Increase education and training. It’s hard to hold employees accountable to a drug diversion program if the rules and consequences haven’t been clearly spelled out. Russ says every employee should know what to look for and what to do if they suspect a co-worker is diverting.
—Understand federal and state legislation. It’s changing rapidly as everyone tries to stem the tide of abuse of controlled substances. You should know your state’s rules and regulations and also keep an eye on federal legislation as it evolves.
–Leverage technology to improve diversion detection programs. Combining artificial intelligence with advanced analytics can help healthcare facilities go from sifting and sorting through mounds of data and frankly, being a step or two behind with investigations, to proactively seeing where diversion may be happening.
You can read Russ’ complete article here in Healthcare Business Today.