Pharmacy Diversion Monitoring: What to Review in a Community Pharmacy

In a community pharmacy, diversion monitoring comes down to a short list of reviews done on a schedule: who can reach the stock, whether the counts reconcile, what is credited back to inventory, and which prescriptions deserve a second look. These guides take each review in turn.

Start the free assessment

Community Pharmacy / Clinic version: 7 sections, 45 weighted items. No account or login.

What the public record shows

253

of 724 documented cases took place in a retail pharmacy
111

of the 644 cases that name a role: a pharmacy technician
91

of the 644 cases that name a role: a pharmacist

Counted from the DivertGuard case registry, which is compiled from board actions, court filings and press releases. It is a record of documented cases, not an estimate of how often diversion happens.

The guides, in order

13 guides on this topic.

Who can reach the stock

Technician access, shared logins and shifts where one person works alone.

Counts, returns and reversals

Reconciling counts, and checking what is returned to stock before it is credited.

Prescriptions at the counter

The pharmacist's duty to question a prescription, and the fraud patterns to check for.

Signals from outside the counts

Patient complaints and staff behavior that point to a problem before the numbers do.

What the assessment checks

The community pharmacy / clinic assessment has 7 sections. These are the 6 items it scores under Monitoring & Surveillance:

  • Pharmacy management system CS usage reports reviewed monthly
  • Discrepancy log maintained and reviewed by PIC monthly
  • Chargebacks and insurance rejection patterns reviewed for red flags
  • Prescriber pattern analysis — unusual prescribing by any provider
  • Patient-level patterns — multiple providers, cash-only, distance traveled
  • DEA 106 losses trended over 12-month period

The other sections: Governance & Program Oversight (6), Inventory & Recordkeeping (7), Dispensing & Workflow Controls (8), Physical Security (6), Personnel & Training (6), Incident Reporting & Investigation (6). Each item is weighted, the score updates as you answer, and the result exports to PDF or CSV.

Other topics

Drug Diversion Prevention Program

What a hospital drug diversion prevention program needs — oversight, surveillance, waste controls, investigation — with a free scored self-assessment.
DEA Audit Readiness

Prepare for a DEA inspection: inventory, Form 222 and CSOS orders, Form 106 loss reports, Form 41 destruction and renewals, with a free self-assessment.
Compounding and USP 795/797/800

Where controlled substance diversion hides in sterile, nonsterile and hazardous-drug compounding, and the access, waste and logging controls that close it.
Share: LinkedIn X Facebook

Last reviewed: September 2026 · Content is educational, not legal advice.