What is an audit trail in Phreesia, and why is it important?

• A. A schedule of patient appointments
• B. A list of medications prescribed
• C. A summary of insurance benefits
• D. A log of user actions (who accessed/edited records, when); important for accountability and regulatory compliance

Answer: (D)

An audit trail is a record of actions taken within the Phreesia system that shows who accessed or edited patient records and when those actions occurred. This creates accountability because you can trace changes back to the specific user, which supports security and patient privacy. It also helps with regulatory compliance by providing an auditable history that can be reviewed during audits or investigations of data changes. In Phreesia, this would log events like a clinician opening a chart, updating a note, or changing patient information, along with the exact time and user identity. The other items describe routine clinical data (appointments, medications, insurance benefits) and don’t document who did what in the system, so they don’t serve as an audit trail.