Developing a dashboard for benchmarking the productivity of a medication therapy management program

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Medication Therapy Management (MTM) pharmacists play a crucial role in integrated healthcare systems, providing medication management through collaborative practice.
• MTM pharmacist activities encompass direct patient care, nonvisit patient care, and professional activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel method for internal benchmarking of Medication Therapy Management (MTM) pharmacist activities.
• To evaluate the utility of the Pharmacist Ambulatory Resource Management System (PhARMS) for tracking MTM pharmacist workload during a period of expansion.

Main Methods:

• A computer-based application, Pharmacist Ambulatory Resource Management System (PhARMS), was utilized to track MTM pharmacist activities over a 12-month period.
• MTM pharmacist activities were categorized into direct patient care, nonvisit patient care, and professional activities.

Main Results:

• PhARMS captured 81% of MTM pharmacist time, with nonvisit patient care (41%), direct patient care (29%), and professional activities (30%) being the main components.
• The study documented an increase in patient visits and encounters, including face-to-face, telephone, and chart reviews.
• Both nonvisit patient care and professional activities demonstrated an upward trend during the study period.

Conclusions:

• The implementation of PhARMS facilitated effective internal benchmarking of patient care and non-patient care activities within a regional MTM program.
• The collected data proved valuable for justifying personnel resource increases and identifying best practices among different MTM sites.
• Limitations include potential self-reporting bias and the absence of patient outcome data.