Assessment of Practice Management Entrustable Professional Activities by Pharmacists in North Dakota

Objective. To quantify the use of core entrustable practice activities (EPAs) in contemporary pharmacy practice in North Dakota. Methods. Given the large number of core EPAs, this study focused on those supporting tasks categorized within the practice manager domain. The survey instrument was sent to all registered pharmacists living and practicing in North Dakota (n=990). This manuscript reports on the practice manager domain and the activities and examples of supportive tasks in this domain. Results. Four hundred fifty-seven (46.1%) of the pharmacists responded; however, only 102 survey instruments were fully completed and usable. Respondents rated the "fulfill a medication order" activity the highest EPA overall (mean=9.1, SD=2.7). The "oversee the pharmacy operations for an assigned work shift" activity (mean=7.8, SD=3.9) was also rated highly. Responses to "oversee the pharmacy operations for an assigned work shift" were significantly different between independent practice settings and all other practice settings. The manager was more likely than other pharmacy positions to report performing seven of the nine tasks within this EPA. Significant differences in five of nine tasks were found across pharmacies located in rural or more urban communities, including "assist in the evaluation of pharmacy technicians" and "identify pharmacy service problems and/or medication safety issues." Conclusion. This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that EPAs can be a useful means to assess outcomes in pharmacy education.