Interactive Pharmacy Temperature Compliance Map

In our previous blog posts, we discussed the industry’s move toward continuous monitoring, and its benefits beyond compliance. Since the guidelines are changing so rapidly, we partnered with Bula Intelligence to create an interactive tool that allows you to see a state-by-state overview of temperature compliance rules and recommendations for medications and vaccines. Let’s take a closer look.

Overview and Benefits

It can be overwhelming to begin deploying continuous temperature monitoring within your pharmacy. Especially if you have multiple pharmacies with locations in several different states with differing regulations and enforcement strategies. At SmartSense, we understand how daunting it can be to keep track of the many regulations.

That’s why we collaborated with Bula Intelligence, a firm which builds tools to help organizations keep track of complex and evolving laws, regulations, policies, and best practices. Specifically, we joined forces to produce a database that aggregates pharmacy temperature regulations into a single instrument that contains alerts on new legislations, pharmacy rules, and agendas for Board of Pharmacy meetings.

The State-by-State Map

At the highest level, the map is color coded according to the stringency of regulations. That is, the darker the color of the state, the more rigorous the guidelines. Please see a version of the map below with the corresponding legend describing the level of stringency.

Please note these color-coded summaries are compiled and scored from the perspective of how state regulations impact retail community pharmacies. VFC is noted separately. Other areas of pharmacy (e.g., compounding, nuclear, warehouses) are also noted separately and are often more stringent.

Although we can’t fully demonstrate it in a blog post, this is where the tool gets interactive. If you hover your cursor over each state, a pop-up summary displays (see the example of Oregon below), providing information such as standards and regulations, state laws, pharmacy guidelines, and VFC requirements.

The Module Reports

For an additional subscription charge, you have access to the Module Reports detailing regulations in each state. You can customize any number of different reports by selecting from 1 to 50 states and 1 to 10 questions as the analytical criteria (see below).

With one click, the tool will run a synopsis or detailed report based on your selections, which you can save and print as a PDF. Selecting more than one state provides a side-by-side comparison of guidelines (see below).

The temperature compliance tool updates dynamically and notifies you to keep you informed, in real-time. For example, if New Jersey is on the verge of tightening up its temperature regulations, you’ll get an alert so you can take the actions necessary for your locations in that state. The tool can also help you prioritize changes on a state-by-state basis, empowering you to allocate resources in a way that makes the most sense for your organization.

Get Access to Our Temperature Compliance Map! 

Get access to our interactive pharmacy temperature compliance map to view a state-by-state overview of temperature compliance rules and regulations for medications and vaccines.