Improving pharmacist documentation of clinical interventions through focused education

The impact of a focused education initiative to increase pharmacists' documentation of clinical interventions is described.

A focused education initiative was developed to increase the consistency of pharmacists' documentation of clinical interventions in order to achieve pharmacy goals and to demonstrate the value of pharmacy services at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Education was provided through weekly pharmacy newsletter publications, weekly huddles, and monthly staff meetings. Pharmacy clinical specialists were tasked with providing examples of activities that should be documented as interventions, reviewing the selection of intervention categories to best capture the specific activity, and emphasizing the need for appropriate documentation. Monthly progress was monitored, and results were posted publicly to incentivize staff and assist with accountability. Increases in the number of clinical interventions was reported at monthly pharmacy staff meetings to reinforce the value of this process. The total number of pharmacy clinical interventions increased from an average of 12,493 per month in the first quarter of 2012 to an average of 27,978 per month in the second quarter of 2013, representing a 120% improvement. Associated cost-avoidance dollars also increased proportionally, such that the average cost-avoidance dollars in the second quarter of 2013 was $1.5 million per month. In addition, the pharmacy department far exceeded the health system's division of pharmacy targets for established quality indicators. Effects were sustained during the 12 months after completion of the education initiative.

Implementation of a focused pharmacist education initiative led to increased numbers of clinical interventions reported and increased documentation of costs avoided.