Evaluating Pharmacists' Time Collecting Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Data

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Endocrinology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is vital for patients on intensive insulin therapy.
• Clinical pharmacist practitioners (CPPs) utilize SMBG data for medication adjustments.
• Anecdotal evidence suggests SMBG data collection is time-intensive for CPPs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the time spent by CPPs collecting and documenting SMBG data.
• To assess the proportion of patient visit time dedicated to SMBG data management.
• To identify opportunities for improving efficiency in SMBG data handling.

Main Methods:

• A prospective data collection study involving 24 CPPs at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
• Pharmacists recorded time spent on SMBG data collection, documentation, and total patient visit time.
• Data were collected over one week using a standardized spreadsheet.

Main Results:

• Eight pharmacists provided data from 120 patient encounters.
• Mean time for SMBG data collection was 3.3 minutes; documentation/formatting took 1.3 minutes, totaling 4.6 minutes per encounter.
• SMBG data management constituted 16% of visit time for collection and 6% for documentation.

Conclusions:

• CPPs at this facility spend minimal time per patient on SMBG data collection for clinical decision-making.
• While time per encounter is low, cumulative time across numerous patients can be significant.
• Opportunities exist to enhance the efficiency of SMBG data collection and associated documentation.