ACHC Pharmacy Surveyors visit all types of pharmacies every day. We see independent pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, and large corporate pharmacies. Regardless of a pharmacy’s size and location, we’ve noticed a recurring issue—pharmacies are challenged by cold chain shipping.
Why do pharmacies have difficulty meeting this requirement? Over the past three years, we’ve catalogued several potential causes:
- Limited understanding of third-party cold chain data.
- Lack of knowledge regarding when and how to conduct independent validations.
- Failure to ensure the data covers what/where your pharmacy transports (utilizing pack-outs specific to your data, including geographical areas and temperature profiles).
- Insufficient training and competencies for staff who will prepare products for transport.
- Not checking manufacturer requirements and/or payor requirements. Read More >
