The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and the National Audit Office of China held an online meeting to discuss the audit of the healthcare system.

The participants focused on pharmaceutical provision, healthcare digitalization, and audit planning in the healthcare sector.

High-quality auditing is impossible without thorough planning and reliable data. Mr. Roman Shcheglevatykh, Director of the Department of Healthcare and Sports Audit of the Accounts Chamber, provided a detailed description of each stage of conducting a healthcare audit. He paid special attention to the process of creating a design matrix for the audit and the role of the inspectors' competencies in planning and conducting audits.

The design matrix is a working document that outlines and links together the audit hypotheses, audit criteria, methods of data collection and analysis, limitations, preliminary results, as well as conclusions and recommendations.

Roman Shcheglevatykh emphasized that the quality of the data used in audits relies on its accuracy, completeness, uniqueness, validity, representativeness, and applicability. The key data sources for healthcare audits include various government information systems, particularly the State Information System of Mandatory Health Insurance and the Unified State Information System in Healthcare.

Ms. Zhang Yanan, Principal Auditor of the Department of Social Security Audit, shared the experience of the National Audit Office of China. In her presentation, she highlighted the importance of auditors using innovative methods during audits. Big data analysis helps the Chinese SAI detect abnormal transactions and new fraud schemes in the healthcare sector. Using cutting-edge audit techniques, the SAI identified the causes of inflated prices for essential medicines and discovered the organizer of this scheme. This allowed for a reduction in drug prices, significantly reducing the financial burden on patients and the healthcare insurance system.

In conclusion, the participants agreed to continue the dialogue on healthcare audit issues.