PharmacyForward

Rosemary Duncan, Pharm.D., BCPS - Medication Safety Officer - and Jacob Smith, Pharm.D. - Assistant Director of Medication Safety and Quality at The Johns Hopkins Hospital talk about measuring quality in hospital settings and how quality metrics are used for accreditation and value-based payments.

Key Lessons:  Measuring quality is difficult and event rates are not an adequate metric of medication safety; pharmacists can help improve HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) scores by providing patient and provider education; quality in healthcare is advanced by implementing high-reliability systems and processes by interprofessional teams.

Laura Cranston, R.Ph. - Chief Executive Office of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) - talks about the work of PQA and the National Quality Strategy which aims to make care delivery higher quality and more affordable to achieve healthier people and communities. 

Key Lessons:  PQA plays an important role by convening key stakeholders and creating quality measures that are used by the payer community.  Pharmacists and student pharmacists can play an important role in PQA's work.  

Troy Trygstad, Pharm.D., MBA, Ph.D. - Executive Director of CPESN-USA, a network of pharmacies that provides a portfolio of medication optimization and patient care services - talks about the "quality movement" and how it's impacting the practice of pharmacy in community and ambulatory care settings.

Key Lessons:  Create supports to help patients to optimally use medications; follow-up is critical; fully engage staff and student pharmacists to deliver care.

Dr. Jean-Venable "Kelly" Goode from the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) talks about relationship building in the community setting.  Dr. Goode is Past-President of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and helped develop several innovative community-based pharmacy practices during her career. She serves as the residency program director for the highly regarded VCU Community-based Residency Program.

Key Lessons:  understand the needs first, make time to meet providers in their space, consider practice model changes, and always follow through.

Sara J. White - former Director of Pharmacy at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics - talks about relationship building in hospitals and health systems.  Ms. White is a Past-President of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and a Scholar-in-Residence with the ASHP Foundation in 2004.

Key Lessons:  know the distinction between interactions and relationships, connect with people - not just communicate, and be visible.

Dr. Hae Mi Choe from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy talks about relationship building in ambulatory care environments.  Dr. Choe is Director of Pharmacy Innovations and Partnerships for the U-M Medical Group and lead the development of innovative pharmacy services at 14 U-M affiliated hospitals and health centers.

Key Lessons:  align your goals with institutional goals, tell your patient's success story, be visible, and be persistent.