Implementation of a student pharmacist-driven medication history service for ambulatory oncology patients in a large academic medical center.

OBJECTIVE: Patients who have an up-to-date and accurate medication list are less susceptible to medication errors and allow care teams to make more informed treatment decisions. Through utilizing student pharmacists to provide medication history services, we anticipate improved patient safety and overall quality of patient care. The purpose of this project was to implement a medication history service for ambulatory oncology patients of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. METHODS: A phased approach was utilized to implement a standardized operating procedure for completing medication histories in ambulatory oncology patients. Data collection included number of total medication discrepancies, percentage of patients with high-risk medications, and high-risk medication classes involved in discrepancies. Additionally, time data were collected, including time spent calling the patient, completing patient work up, and preceptor oversight. RESULTS: Students completed medication histories for 60 patients; 83% of patients had at least one discrepancy with 21% of those discrepancies involving a high-risk medication. High-risk medications involved in discrepancies included oral chemotherapeutic agents, anticoagulants, insulin, and opioids. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients seen had at least one medication discrepancy that was identified and corrected through the medication history service. By correcting the discrepancy, the likelihood of medication errors occurring was decreased. Continuous workflow changes are being made to identify the number and type of resources to expand the service to all appropriate ambulatory oncology patients at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Impact of a Layered Learning Practice Model on Delivery of Clinical Pharmacy Key Performance Indicators under a Tertiary Care Centre Oncology Service.

BACKGROUND: The layered learning practice model (LLPM), within which a pharmacist supervises both a pharmacy resident and a student, mitigates the growing demand for clinical rotations that has accompanied national expansion of Doctor of Pharmacy programs. A Canadian collaborative of hospital pharmacists established consensus on 8 clinical pharmacy key performance indicators (cpKPIs), activities associated with improved patient outcomes. Increased implementation of the LLPM alongside cpKPI measurement offers opportunities to compare the LLPM with standard practice in terms of pharmaceutical care delivery. OBJECTIVE: To quantify clinical productivity, as measured by proportions of eligible patients receiving cpKPIs and absolute numbers of completed cpKPIs, across scenarios involving pharmacists working with and without pharmacy learners. METHODS: In this retrospective observational study, pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and pharmacists recorded completion of 7 cpKPIs for oncology inpatients over a total of 6 months in 2017 and 2018. Clinical productivity was described across the following 3 scenarios: presence of one or more pharmacists with one resident and one or more students (P-R-S); presence of one or more pharmacists with one or more students (P-S); and presence of one or more pharmacists only (P; standard practice). RESULTS: During the study, there were 685 recorded admissions to the inpatient oncology service. Generally, the proportions of patients who received cpKPIs were similar for scenarios with and without pharmacy learners present. Standardized to 20 pharmacist workdays, the total number of cpKPIs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 (255 with P-R-S scenario, 281 with P-S scenario, and 258 with P scenario) and the total number of drug therapy problems resolved (i.e., cpKPI 3; 153 with P-R-S scenario, 180 with P-S scenario, and 149 with P scenario) were similar across the scenarios. Scenario P had fewer admitted patients per pharmacist workday (3.2) than scenarios P-S and P-R-S (3.4 and 3.7, respectively), which may have contributed to a trend toward greater proportions of patients receiving cpKPIs under scenario P. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with standard practice, integration of pharmacy learners within an oncology unit did not appear to impair clinical productivity, as demonstrated by the comparable proportions of patients receiving cpKPIs and the total number of completed cpKPIs.

CONTEXTE: Le modèle de pratique avec apprentissage à plusieurs niveaux (traduction libre de : Layered Learning Practice Model, [LLPM]), où un pharmacien supervise un résident et un étudiant en pharmacie, permet de réduire la demande croissante de stages cliniques qui a suivi le développement national des programmes de doctorat en pharmacie. Un regroupement canadien composé de pharmaciens d'hôpitaux a établi un consensus sur huit indicateurs clés de rendement relatifs à la pharmacie clinique (ICRpc), activités associées à l'amélioration des résultats thérapeutiques. L'accélération de la mise en oeuvre du LLPM, parallèlement à l'évaluation des ICRpc, offre des occasions de comparer le LLPM aux pratiques courantes en ce qui a trait à la prestation de soins pharmaceutiques. OBJECTIF: Quantifier la productivité clinique, en fonction des proportions de patients admissibles, profitant des ICRpc et des nombres absolus d'ICRpc évalués, dans des scénarios où les pharmaciens travaillent ou non avec des étudiants ou des résidents. MÉTHODES: Dans la présente étude d'observation rétrospective, des étudiants et des résidents en pharmacie ainsi que des pharmaciens ont enregistré l'évaluation complète de sept ICRpc pour des patients hospitalisés en oncologie sur une durée totale de six mois en 2017 et 2018. La productivité clinique a été décrite à l'intérieur des trois scénarios suivants : participation d'au moins un pharmacien accompagné d'au moins un résident et un étudiant (P-R-É); participation d'au moins un pharmacien accompagné d'au moins un étudiant (P-É); et participation d'au moins un pharmacien, sans étudiant ou résident (P : pratique courante). RÉSULTATS: Au cours de l'étude, on a enregistré 685 admissions au service d'hospitalisation en oncologie. Généralement, les proportions de patients profitant des ICRpc étaient semblables dans les trois scénarios. Basé sur une unité de mesure de 20 jours de travail de pharmacien, le nombre total d'ICRpc 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 et 7 (255 pour le scénario P-R-É, 281 pour le scénario P-É et 258 pour le scénario P) et le nombre total de problèmes pharmacothérapeutiques réglés (c'est-à-dire ICRpc 3; 153 pour le scénario P-R-É, 180 pour le scénario P-É et 149 pour le scénario P) étaient semblables dans les différents scénarios. Le scénario P présentait moins de patients admis par jours de travail de pharmacien (3,2) que les scénarios P-É et P-R-É (respectivement 3,4 et 3,7), ce qui peut avoir contribué à créer une tendance montrant une plus grande proportion de patients profitant des ICRpc dans le scénario P. CONCLUSIONS: Comparée à la pratique courante, l'intégration d'étudiants ou de résidents en pharmacie dans un service d'oncologie ne semblait pas réduire la productivité clinique, comme l'illustrent les proportions comparables de patients profitant d'ICRpc et le nombre total d'ICRpc évalués.

Dynamic Interplay of Pharmacy Learners During a Solid Organ Transplantation Learning Experience.

Institutions with established clinical pharmacy services have the ability to offer focused patient care learning experiences, often led by a clinical specialist, for pharmacy residents and pharmacy students. Since all parties are continually involved in professional development and lifelong learning, the aforementioned groups can all be considered "pharmacy learners." By utilizing the dynamic interplay and collaboration between pharmacy learners through direct and nondirect patient care activities, experiential and educational opportunities may be improved and enhanced for each learner. A tiered learning approach engages individuals in areas such as direct patient care, patient education, presentations, research projects, career development, and the feedback process. We describe our experience during a solid organ transplantation learning experience using a layered learning practice model that included a clinical pharmacy specialist, a postgraduate year 2 specialty pharmacy resident, a postgraduate year 1 pharmacy resident, and a pharmacy student.