Development of a multihospital pharmacy quality assurance program

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Pharmacy Practice
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Community hospitals often face challenges in establishing standardized quality assurance programs.
• A collaborative approach can facilitate the development and adoption of best practices in hospital pharmacy.
• Existing models, such as the one from the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, provide a framework for quality initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an initial hospital pharmacy quality assurance (QA) program through inter-hospital cooperation.
• To establish auditing criteria for key service areas within hospital pharmacy operations.
• To create a scalable and adaptable QA program for diverse community hospital settings.

Main Methods:

• A cooperative effort involving seven community hospitals over 18 months.
• Development of auditing criteria based on the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists' model program.
• Identification of nine essential service areas for pharmacy QA.

Main Results:

• An initial hospital pharmacy quality assurance program framework has been successfully developed.
• Auditing criteria have been defined for nine critical pharmacy service areas.
• The program is designed for adaptability and implementation across participating hospitals.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative, model-based approach is effective for developing initial hospital pharmacy QA programs.
• The developed program provides a foundation for enhancing pharmacy services in community hospitals.
• Future development will focus on program implementation, modification, and establishing follow-up mechanisms.