Staff Knowledge Enhancement Program in Hospital Pharmacy: One-Year Experience.

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of Staff Knowledge Enhancement Program (SKEP) among staff, in improving staff knowledge, and awareness of policies and procedures. Methods: After 1 year of implementing SKEP, a survey was conducted among pharmacy staff that participated in SKEP during June 2019 (n = 38). The survey included 7 questions and the answers were on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree). The investigators also obtained the average monthly time used to solve SKEP test, and the number of therapeutic intervention documentations (TID). Results: Sixty-one percent of the pharmacists and 80% of the technicians were satisfied with the educational content of SKEP; 35% of pharmacists and 93% of technicians felt that their learning needs were met with the SKEP; 83% of pharmacists and 93 % of technicians found SKEP is an effective tool in improving their knowledge; 48% of pharmacists and 34% of technicians felt that SKEP made staff evaluations fair; 38% of pharmacists felt that SKEP is a burden and takes a lot from their free time, while 40% of technicians did not have this feeling; 83% of pharmacist and 93% of the technicians found that the knowledge gained from SKEP applicable in their daily practice; 73% and 74% of the pharmacists and technicians who completed the survey felt that their familiarity with policies and procedures improved after SKEP respectively. The total number of TID increased by 30% and the average duration for the test was 5 hours/month and 68 minutes/month per pharmacist and technician respectively. Conclusion: SKEP is innovative tool which may enhance the knowledge and policy awareness among pharmacy staff.

Adoption of a Personal Health Record in the Digital Age: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: As health care organizations strive to improve health care access, quality, and costs, they have implemented patient-facing eHealth technologies such as personal health records to better engage patients in the management of their health. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, eHealth is also growing in accordance with Vision 2030 and its National Transformation Program framework, creating a roadmap for increased quality and efficiency of the health care system and supporting the goal of patient-centered care. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the adoption of the personal health record of the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA Care). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in adults visiting outpatient clinics in hospitals at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs hospitals in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madinah, and Al Ahsa, and primary health care clinics in Riyadh and Qassim. The main outcome measure was self-reported use of MNGHA Care. RESULTS: In the sample of 546 adult patients, 383 (70.1%) reported being users of MNGHA Care. MNGHA Care users were more likely to be younger (P<.001), high school or university educated (P<.001), employed (P<.001), have a chronic condition (P=.046), use the internet to search for health-related information (P<.001), and use health apps on their mobile phones (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that there is substantial interest for the use of MNGHA Care personal health record with 70% of participants self-reporting use. To confirm these findings, objective data from the portal usage logs are needed. Maximizing the potential of MNGHA Care supports patient engagement and is aligned with the national eHealth initiative to encourage the use of technology for high-quality, accessible patient-centered care. Future research should include health care provider perspectives, incorporate objective data, employ a mixed-methods approach, and use a theoretical framework.

Pharmacists as Interprofessional Collaborators and Leaders through Clinical Pathways.

Pharmacists possess pivotal competencies and expertise in developing clinical pathways (CPs). We present a tertiary care facility experience of pharmacists vis-a-vis interprofessional collaboration for designing and implementing CPs. We participated in the development of CPs as leading members of a collaborative team of healthcare professionals. We reviewed literature, aligning it with hospital formulary and institutional standards, and participated in weekly team meetings for six months. Several tools and services were adapted to guide prescribing and standardization of care through time-bound order sets. Fifteen CPs leading to admissions in medical wards were developed and integrated into Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE) sets. Tools and services included (1) reporting of creatinine clearance to guide optimum dosing; (2) advisory flags for dosing and infusion rates; (3) piloting of medication reconciliation and counseling services before discharge were initiated; (4) Arabic drug leaflets were designed to educate patients; and (5) five CPs were included in pragmatic randomized control trials with a clinical pharmacist as co-investigator. Clinical pharmacists conducted continuous orientation to various healthcare professionals throughout the process. CPs provide unique opportunities for establishing and evaluating patient-centered pharmaceutical services and allow clinical pharmacists to demonstrate interprofessional leadership in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.

The impact of pharmacist-led medication reconciliation during admission at tertiary care hospital.

Background Medication errors represent the most common type of error that compromises patient safety, with approximately 20% believed to result in harm. Over 40% of these errors are believed to result from inadequate medication reconciliation during admission, transfer, and discharge of patients and many of these errors could be prevented if adequate medication reconciliation processes were in place. In an effort to minimize adverse events caused during these care transitions, the Joint Commission has stated medication reconciliation as one of its National Patient Safety Goals and health care providers and organizations are encouraged to perform the process at various patient care transitions. Objective Identify the types of medication discrepancy that occurred during medication reconciliation performed by a pharmacist gathering the best possible medication history (BPMH). Estimate the potential for harm with each medication discrepancy using the severity rating methods developed by Cornish et al. (Arch Intern Med 165(4):424-429, 2005). Setting Tertiary care hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Method Prospective 3-month study on 286 adult patients, admitted for at least 24 h and regularly taking at least four chronic prescription medications. Medication histories taken by physicians and by a pharmacist gathering the BPMH were compared. Identified discrepancies were reviewed by a panel of clinical pharmacists to assess the potential to cause patient harm with these errors. Main Outcome measure Number and types of medication discrepancies recorded by the pharmacist. Results Total number of medications recorded by physicians was 2548, versus 3085 by the pharmacist. 48.3% of patients had at least one unintended medication discrepancy by physicians. 537 medication discrepancies were reported (17.4% of number of medication discrepancies recorded by pharmacist). Types of medication discrepancies included, omissions (77% of discrepancies), commissions (13%), dosing errors (7%), and frequency errors (3%). 52% of the identified medication discrepancies had the potential to cause moderate to severe patient discomfort. Conclusion Patient medication histories are frequently recorded inaccurately by physicians during admission of patients which results in medication-related errors and compromises patient safety. Medication reconciliation is crucial in reducing these errors. Pharmacists can help in reducing these medication-related errors and the associated risks and complications.