The Basics

The standard on policies and procedures of the P&T committee imposes two requirements on the organization's policies and procedures regarding formulary management:

• representatives of pharmaceutical companies may neither be members nor attend committee meetings;
• all committee members must adhere to the organization's policy on disclosure and participation in formulary discussions as it relates to conflict of interest.

The first requirement is absolute, prohibiting drug company representatives attendance at any meeting.

Management Tips

This is another one of those standards that specifically mentions "policies", making it even more essential than usual that the organization's policies and procedures capture the essence of the standard, not just its behavior.

URAC Accreditation Tips

Both elements of the standard are mandatory.

Documentation for the desktop review phase is merely the organization's applicable policies and procedures.

The on-site reviewer will be looking at P&T committee meeting minutes for evidence that conflict of interest has been the subject of a committee discussion.  In addition, the reviewer will be examining all committee members' executed conflict of interest statements.