What breaks at the multi‑site scale?
Policies drift. One station runs a two‑person count. Another uses single‑sign. Safes differ. Some are keyed, others electronic. Audits rely on local spreadsheets that do not line up. The result is a higher DEA audit risk for the corporate compliance officer.
- Inconsistent roles: who can open, issue, restock, and reconcile changes site to site.
- Non‑standard hardware: different doors and cabinets with different keys and no shared plan.
- Messy audits: exports look different, dates do not align, and exception closure times are unclear.
Critical insight: standardize the controls first, then the hardware list. The audit trail follows when everyone plays by the same rules.
What does a standard look like?
Direct answer: one written policy for the entire organization, enforced by one platform. The same roles, counts, handoffs, reconciliation, and incident steps everywhere.
- Roles and authority: custodians, supervisors, and the medical director or designee.
- Key and credential handling: issue, expire, revoke. No shared logins.
- Shift handoff: two‑person counts with lots and quantities.
- Daily reconciliation: exception queue with owner and time to close.
- Incident response: lock cabinet, export audit, interview, escalate, document corrections.
- Reporting: monthly cabinet reports and quarterly trends by unit and shift.
How NarcLock makes this enforceable: role‑based access lists, dual‑sign count events, reconciliation reports, exception queue, and scheduled exports that match the policy sections.
Why hardware choice matters for multi-site DEA compliance
Use wireless, no‑wiring cylinders that drop into existing hardware. The key provides power during the access event, so there is no door wiring and no cabinet battery to maintain. Add weather‑rated electronic padlocks for gates and vehicles. One key plan opens both.
- Fast retrofit across mixed hardware and brands.
- Fits doors, cabinets, cages, vehicles, and remote sheds.
- Same key across a hospital, EMS district, or pharmacy group.
Critical insight: pick hardware you can standardize without rebuilding infrastructure.
Single platform control for 10, 50, or 200 sites
Direct answer: one NarcLock tenant with organization‑wide roles and site groups. Push the same policy to every location. See status and exceptions by site, by unit, and by user.
- Global policy: a single ruleset for access, counts, reconciliation, and incident response.
- Site groups: assign locations to regions and apply the same roles and schedules.
- Central audit: time‑stamped events for Access Granted or Denied, counts, restock, waste, reconciliation, and closure.
- Scheduled reports: monthly cabinet summary, denied‑access trends, exception time to close, user activity roll‑up.
Evidence table for the compliance officer
| Approach | What it fixes | What is missing | Fit for multi site DEA compliance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local spreadsheets and mixed safes | Basic recordkeeping | No standard roles, weak logs, messy audits | Poor |
| Generic card‑safe network | Electronic access at select sites | High wiring cost, hard to cover vehicles and remote points | Mixed |
| NarcLock wireless cylinders + one platform | Standard roles, counts, reconciliation, and audit logs at every site | — | Strong |
Rollout plan for 10, 50, or 200 locations
Step 1. Publish the corporate policy
One document for roles, key handling, shift handoff, reconciliation, incident response, and reporting. Share it and enforce it in the platform.
Step 2. Standardize hardware without rewiring
Replace cylinders or padlock bodies. Keep the doors and cabinets. Use the same part numbers everywhere you can.
Step 3. Issue keys and schedules by site group
Assign custodians and supervisors. Set expirations and renewal. Turn on alerts for denied access and late reconciliation.
Step 4. Turn on reporting that matches the policy
Schedule cabinet summaries, denied‑access trends, and exception time to close. Route one copy to compliance monthly.
Step 5. Audit a sample (As often as every day or every month)
Pick ten percent of sites. Export the audit trail and compare it to the policy checklist. Fix drift fast.
What auditors will ask for first
- Proof of roles and authority in practice. Show Access Granted or Denied by user and time.
- Proof of shift counts. Show dual‑sign count events with lot and quantity.
- Proof of reconciliation and exception closure. Show time to close by site and by unit.
- Proof of incident response. Show the case export with access history and notes.
Outbound reference: DEA Diversion Control Division public site: deadiversion.usdoj.gov.
Internal links
FAQ
Do we need power at each door or cabinet?
No. The key powers the cylinder during the access event, which allows standardization without new wiring.
Can we mix doors, cabinets, vehicles, and remote sheds?
Yes. Use cylinders for doors and cabinets and weather‑rated electronic padlocks for perimeter gates, vehicles, and storage.
How do we prove compliance across the organization?
Use scheduled reports. Keep monthly cabinet summaries and exception closure times, and run a quarterly sample audit.