College of Applied Biology Practice Review and Audit Committee Report

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College of Applied BiologyPractice Review and
Audit Committee Report
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Progress and Plans

• Accountability processes (audit, practice review,
  discipline)
• College Act legal authority and requirements
• Objectives and context of the audit
• Terms of reference for audits
• Audit process and guide
• Key elements of the audit
• Testing
• Next steps

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College Accountability Processes

• Audit is a randomly assigned quick check up by
  the College of a sample of members (proactive).
• Practice review is an investigation by the
  College of members where there is a reason to
  believe the member may be having practice or
  professional difficulties.
• Discipline is an in depth investigation of a
  member in response to a complaint made by members
  or the public, or as a result of findings from
  audits and/or practice reviews.

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Authority to establish Audit procedure

• In the College of Applied Biology Act
  "audit" means an audit in accordance with a rule
  made under section 21 (6)
• 21    (1)  The council may establish an audit and
  practice review committee
• 21    (6) The council may make rules
  establishing an audit program to routinely or
  randomly assess the conduct or competence of
  members of the college.

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Objectives of Audits and Related Processes

• Ensure both proactive and reactive mechanisms to
  assess member compliance with Act and Rules
• Maintain public confidence in professionals
• Identify areas of difficulty, negligence and/or
  malpractice, and correct with member or forward
  to discipline committee as appropriate
• Make members aware of their professional
  obligations to improve compliance and reduce
  public controversies (all three processes)

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Audit Terms of Reference

• based on the College Act, Rules and Code of
  Ethics
• comprehensive but not detailed
• completed by members in less than 1 day
• transparent and easy to follow
• focused on procedural, not practice elements
• should also function as an educational tool for
  members
• funded by the College or by member if audit
  conducted at the members request

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Fundamentals of the Process

• Audit criteria should be well established
  requirements that all the College members should
  be aware of and understand the need to comply
  with
• conducted by Auditors experienced and trained in
  the audit process as defined by the College
• undertaken by an Auditor whose role is primarily
  a finder of fact where an Auditor finds an
  apparent red flag during an audit, the Auditor
  must discuss with the member

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Audit Process

• 1. Random selection of members ( 50/ year)
• 2. Introduction and form distribution
• 3. Audit questionnaire completed by member
• 4. Auditor review of questionnaire with possible
  visit or records request to the member
• 5. Auditor discusses red flags with member for
  clarification or response
• 6. Auditor reports to the Committee with
  recommendations
• 7. Draft findings of the Committee returned to
  the member for review
• 8. Adjudication by the Committee

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Audit checks congruency between

• declared scope of practice and recent (lt3yr)
  working record
• education, training and work experience
• record of Continuing Professional Development and
• the members ability to produce records
  documenting items above

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Basic tools of the Audit

• College membership information
• Current resumé
• Completed CPD form
• Completed audit questionnaire
• Relevant project/employment records as requested
  by auditors (phone, on-line)
• Office visit (rarely)

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Auditor evaluation based on

• the role and responsibilities of the member in
  projects and/or in their organization
• knowledge of statutes, journals, and other
  publications relevant to the members field of
  practice
• relevant files including the date, project and
  client
• appropriate filing procedures for
  confidential/sensitive information

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Examples of audit criteria
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Audit Guide Structure

• Introduction/background/objectives
• Explanation of process (8 steps)
• Questionnaire
• CPD record
• Practice expertise, reference material, use of
  seal, relevant legislation, supervision
• Employment responsibilities, projects, reports
• Records filing, backup, security, integrity
• Representative project list
• Quality assurance procedures

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Audit protocol testing

• test audits completed on 2 committee members in
  January 2007
• protocol revised
• in February council approved that 11
  representative members be asked if they would
  volunteer to undergo the revised audit as a
  second round test
• general results and learnings from audits will be
  published

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Representative sample from 42 random registration
numbers
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Representation by expertise
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Next steps

• 4 completed audit forms received to-date for
  second round testing
• all will be jointly reviewed by at least 3
  committee members
• comments on protocol also solicited from test
  auditees
• final audit guide to be completed by September
  for Councils decision on implementation timeline

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Your audit committee members

• Keith Simpson Chair
• Linda Michaluk College Executive Director
• Marc dEntremont, Karen Munro,
• Ian Robertson, Rob Thomson,
• Wayne Wall, Warren Warttig
• Mike Whelen,

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Request for volunteers

• The College will be seeking volunteers to assist
  with the audit program when it is implemented.
• Volunteers will receive training in the College
  protocol
• You will receive CPD credit for your contribution
  to the College