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Use of protocol-driven medication refills by pharmacists decreases rheumatologist in-basket work and improves

Eva I Rottmann1, Jonida Cote2, Swana Thomas2

  • 1MC 2152 Dept Rheumatology, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania, USA evaoconnell1314@gmail.com.

BMJ Open Quality
|January 11, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Integrating rheumatology pharmacists reduced physician workload by 73% and saved 41.5 hours monthly. This initiative improved physician well-being and workplace satisfaction, combating burnout.

Area of Science:

  • Rheumatology
  • Health Services Research
  • Pharmacy Practice

Background:

  • Physician burnout is increasing, with rheumatologists facing significant administrative burdens and workload.
  • Professional dissatisfaction among rheumatologists stems from excessive administrative tasks and in-basket work.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reduce rheumatologist workload and burnout by reallocating medication refills to embedded pharmacists.
  • To enhance workplace satisfaction among rheumatologists through improved efficiency and work-life balance.

Main Methods:

  • Embedded pharmacists into a rheumatology team in 2019, creating protocol-driven refill workflows for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and non-DMARDs.
  • Collected monthly data on medication refill volume and time saved for rheumatologists from January 2019 to March 2021.
  • Utilized Shewhart p-charts for statistical analysis of refill data and two-tailed unpaired t-testing for physician survey feedback.

Main Results:

  • Rheumatologist medication refill volume decreased by 73% within six months.
  • Time saved per month for rheumatologists increased to 41.5 hours.
  • Anonymous surveys indicated reduced burnout and improved workplace satisfaction post-intervention.

Conclusions:

  • Integration of rheumatology pharmacists effectively improves rheumatologists' work-life.
  • Delegating medication refills to pharmacists enhances physician well-being and allows them to practice at the top of their scope.
  • This collaborative model demonstrates a successful strategy for mitigating physician burnout in rheumatology practices.

Keywords:
breakthrough groupsburnoutclinical practice guidelinescollaborativepharmacistsprofessionalquality improvement methodologies

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