The Compliance Team launches pharmacy testing certification for COVID-19, more

The Compliance Team, a Medicare-approved national healthcare accreditation organization, recently launched the Pharmacy Testing Certification, its newest Exemplary Provider Quality Award program. The program is the first of its kind in the healthcare industry and is derived from The Compliance Team’s long-standing pharmacy quality standards for accreditation.

Company officials said the Pharmacy Testing Certification program provides pharmacies with the education and tools necessary to achieve certification for COVID-19 and other Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-, or CLIA-, waived tests. It offers pharmacies new revenue opportunities via point-of-care testing and collect-and-transfer testing. The certification assures customers, patients, payers, and employees that the pharmacy’s patient safety and testing quality has been validated by a nationally recognized third party.

To participate in the new program, (unless only doing collect-and-transfer), the pharmacy must obtain a CLIA waiver and have completed a CMS Part B application. Included in the certification standards are point-of-care testing, collection/sending of tests, equipment management, supply (PPE) management, patient assessment, and facility assessment.

Sandra Canally, founder and CEO of The Compliance Team, is the standards architect of the new program. “This is a focused validation of a pharmacy’s ability to perform testing as well as assurances to maintain integrity of specimen collection,” she said.

The Pharmacy Testing certification is a stand-alone certification program, so a pharmacy need not be accredited by The Compliance Team for any other service. Once a pharmacy has completed the program, it will receive a Pharmacy Testing Certification Award. The certification is valid for two years.