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Compliance Officers offer individual perspectives on practice reviews
Practice reviews are conducted by the College’s Compliance Officers, employed for their expertise in various areas of pharmacy practice. Compliance Officers are there to work with you and your colleagues to ensure the highest quality pharmacy service is being provided to patients.
Each Compliance Officer has his/her own personal perspective on the review process and philosophy on how to work with pharmacy professionals while conducting a review. While a Practice Review should never be a cause for undue stress or concern, having a better idea of what to expect can help you and your staff prepare for assessment.
Practice Reviews are not disciplinary. Compliance Officers use their unique backgrounds and industry experience - in addition to clear requirements and standards of practice set by the College - to work with registrants on practice reviews to ensure the consistent delivery of pharmacy services across BC.
We spoke to some of our Compliance Officers to gain some insight into their own approach to conducting a practice review to give you a better idea of what to expect. We spoke to some of our Compliance Officers to get their perspectices on the Practice Review process to give you a better idea of what to expect during your next review.
I like to observe and be as unobtrusive as possible. I’ve always worked in busy pharmacies and know how stressful it can get, so I try not to let my presence add to that stress. At the same time, I like to be there for the registrants and be able to answer any questions or give practical tips on how to implement policies and procedures that work with their practice.
– Mark Chan
In order to make the most of the practice review, I encourage registrants to practice as they usually would on any other day. As it is not a pass/fail program, my goal is to observe and provide useful feedback that would be applicable to your usual day-to-day practice. My approach to reviews is as a peer and a collaborator. Having gone through my own practice review a couple of years ago, I know it can be a stressful situation and I hope to make registrants feel at ease during my visits. While I am on site, I encourage registrants to approach me with any questions or concerns they may have and discussions regarding any aspect of the review are welcomed.
– Monica Cheng
I prefer to approach the professionals’ review from an educational perspective. I believe strongly that the best way to fulfill our College regulatory mandate is by working closely with each registrant to ensure that they are aware of legislated requirements, and have the knowledge and tools to ensure that they work within these guidelines to ensure safe and efficient service to the public.
– Dwain Nottebrock
The first point I always try to emphasize is that there is no passing (or failing) mark on this whole review process and that it is not meant to be punitive. To me, the overall intent of the program is to ensure the delivery of safe and effective pharmaceutical care to the general public and in order to do so, pharmacy professionals need to be held accountable to a minimum standard of care which is outlined in the respective bylaws.
With that in mind, I conduct my reviews in two general phases: an initial assessment and then a subsequent discussion. On the pharmacy review, if non-compliances are noted, it is up to the pharmacy manager to decide how to implement his or her action plan. On the professionals review, I try to encourage registrants to practice ‘normally’ because then it allows myself as an assessor to observe what their day-to-day practice is like. If there are aspects of practice that are different than current legislative expectations, then it provides a platform to potentially discuss change and move pharmacy practice forward.
– John Thai
Learn more about the Practice Review Program and how to prepare for a review at
BCPHARMACISTS.ORG/PRP
- Practice Review Program, PRP Insights