Implementation of Clinical Pharmacy Surveillance Technology and a Pharmacy Practice Model Re-Design Across a...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Outcomes-directed pharmacy models are essential for patient-centric care.
• Clinical surveillance technology and pharmacy metrics are key to measuring outcomes and return on investment.
• The project aimed to expand pharmacist reach, enhance patient safety, and improve clinical outcomes through operational efficiencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement clinical surveillance technology in a healthcare system.
• To develop clinical pharmacy metrics for outcome measurement.
• To evaluate the impact of these interventions on efficiency, patient safety, and financial return.

Main Methods:

• A clinical pharmacy surveillance tool was piloted in 2013 and expanded to 154 hospitals over 2 years.
• Data tracked included hospital adoption, drug therapy modifications, pharmacist intervention time, clinical metrics, and return on investment over 6 years.
• The study encompassed 177 hospitals by 2021, analyzing data from 2015 to 2021.

Main Results:

• Hospital implementation of surveillance technology increased to 177 sites.
• Pharmacist drug therapy modifications more than doubled, and response time to alerts decreased from 13.9 to 2.6 hours.
• Significant improvements in vancomycin de-escalation (12%) and reduction in fluoroquinolone use for UTIs (25%) were observed, yielding a 1:12.9 annual ROI.

Conclusions:

• Redesigned pharmacy services using clinical surveillance technology led to increased pharmacist efficiency.
• Patient outcomes demonstrably improved following the implementation of the new pharmacy model.
• The study highlights the value of technology in optimizing pharmacy practice and demonstrating financial benefits.