Improving clinic utilization and workload capture for clinical pharmacy specialists

Efforts to quantify clinical pharmacy contributions often face challenges in accurately capturing workload and clinic utilization. While prior research has shown the value of clinical pharmacy services, gaps remain in systematically documenting these contributions. No prior work had resolved how to standardize documentation across multiple specialty areas. This gap motivated the need for a structured quality improvement initiative. Existing methods often fail to incorporate all modalities of care. The Veterans Health Administration has recognized the importance of justifying clinical pharmacy services. However, the lack of a unified approach to data collection and analysis persists. This uncertainty drove the development of a system-wide initiative. The initiative aimed to align clinic coding with actual clinical activities.

The goal of this study was to evaluate a quality improvement initiative focused on enhancing clinic utilization and workload capture for clinical pharmacy specialists. The initiative aimed to justify clinical pharmacy services by demonstrating their value to stakeholders. It also sought to identify clinical areas where interventions could be most impactful. The study was conducted within the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. The focus was on outpatient specialty practice areas such as cardiology and oncology. The initiative included scheduling reviews and data extraction from electronic health records. The objective was to align clinic coding with actual clinical activities. The study aimed to improve documentation of clinical care and workload.

The quality improvement initiative involved scheduling and profile reviews using data from the Veterans Health Administration electronic health record. Pharmacy administrators and clinical pharmacy specialists collaborated to extract and analyze data. The study focused on outpatient specialty areas like cardiology and mental health. The first step was completing a worksheet and analyzing clinic utilization data. Next, an evaluation was conducted to assess encounters, interventions, and coding. Meetings were arranged with clinical pharmacy specialist groups to discuss findings. Clinic coding and mapping of the average workday were adjusted based on discussions. Metrics were compared before and after the intervention period.

After the intervention, there was a statistically significant increase in clinic utilization among clinical pharmacy specialists. Total encounters completed also rose significantly in the composite group. The number of interventions recorded increased following the quality improvement initiative. These findings suggest improved documentation and justification of clinical services. The composite group included specialists in cardiology and other areas. The pre-intervention period was October through December 2017. The post-intervention period was July through September 2018. The results indicate the effectiveness of administrator collaboration with specialists.

The study findings suggest that collaboration between pharmacy administrators and clinical pharmacy specialists improves workload capture. The observed increases in clinic utilization and interventions support the initiative's effectiveness. These results may help justify clinical pharmacy services to stakeholders. The initiative also identified areas for clinical intervention. The study highlights the importance of aligning clinic coding with actual activities. The results may encourage broader adoption of similar quality improvement efforts. The study supports the value of structured data collection and analysis. The findings may inform future efforts to enhance clinical pharmacy documentation.