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Pharmacy Record Archiving: Is It Right For You?
Pharmacies can benefit from record archiving in a number of ways, but many organizations are still left wondering if this step is right for them. Today, we’ll talk more about everything you need to know about pharmacy record archiving, including what it is, when it’s necessary, its benefits, and how the pharmacy record archiving process works.
What is Pharmacy Record Archiving?
To begin, let’s first define pharmacy record archiving. In short, pharmacy record archiving is the process of storing pharmacy records in an archive for long-term preservation and retrieval. However, there is more to it than that.
Pharmacy record archiving is a best practice for managing pharmacy data. By keeping data in an archive, pharmacies can:
- Comply with state and federal regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- Meet accreditation requirements
- Support pharmacy operations
- Improve patient safety
- Provide convenient access to archived patient records, practitioner reports, and prescription information.
(We’ll get more into these benefits in a moment)
When Do I Need Pharmacy Record Archiving?
Now that we’ve discussed what pharmacy record archiving is, you might wonder when your pharmacy would need to utilize an archiving solution.
Typically, it’s necessary when:
- A pharmacy is upgrading its pharmacy information system (PIS) solutions.
- There is a merger, acquisition, or the pharmacy is closing.
- Data needs to be retained for a certain number of years (as required by state or federal regulations).
Further, pharmacies may also explore this option when they’re looking to:
- Decrease their expenditures
- Improve data security compliance
- Analyze their pharmacy data
- Changes EHR/EMR systems.
These are just a few examples – ultimately, if your pharmacy needs to store data long-term, record archiving can be a helpful solution.
Pharmacy Record Archiving Benefits
We briefly touched on this earlier, but there are several benefits that come along with utilizing a pharmacy record archive, including:
Improved patient safety
By storing data in an archive, pharmacies can ensure they always have access to critical patient information – even if it’s not stored in the pharmacy’s current PIS or EHR. This is especially important for things like medication histories and allergies. Not to mention, having this information on hand can help pharmacy staff avoid costly errors.
Regulatory compliance
Pharmacies are required to keep certain records for a set period of time – often 10-11 years. By storing records in an archive, pharmacies can be sure that they can retrieve them when needed.
These regulations vary from state to state, but record archiving can help ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Did you know Two Point has both a HIPAA Compliance Officer and Chief Privacy Officer on staff to implement HIPAA and Information Security policies and procedures? This provides the organizations we work with incredible peace of mind that their compliance bases are covered throughout record archiving processes.
Support pharmacy operations
An archive can be used to store data that is no longer needed on a daily basis but may still need to be accessed from time to time. This frees up space on the pharmacy’s primary system, making it easier and faster to retrieve the data that is most important.
Two Point Pharmacy Record Archiving Process
Step #1: User Discovery
Through a series of meetings, Two Point works with your pharmacy to:
- Get to know the use of the current system
- Understand the needs of the pharmacy data archive
- Understand the ongoing reporting needs.
Step #2: Archive Set Up
Following a careful examination of your pharmacy data files, our Two Point special projects team begins the archive server construction for installation.
Step #3: Data & Image Process
Data and images are processed into the archive database. Images are then linked to the corresponding data points (patients, Rxs, dispensing).
Step #4: Validating & Testing
Next, our team works with your pharmacy to validate all of that data. We’re also sure to address any discrepancies before project completion. After this, the archive is then complete!
When choosing a pharmacy data archiving solution, it’s important to select one that is easy to use and provides the features that are most important to your pharmacy.
Learn More About Pharmacy Record Archiving
At Two Point, we offer a record archiving solution designed to meet the needs of pharmacies of all sizes. Our proprietary software is easy to use and provides all of the features listed above, plus much more. Contact us today to learn more about our pharmacy record archiving solution or schedule a demo.
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