Recommendations for Evaluating Practice-Related Activities of Pharmacy Faculty

Abstract

Objective: To develop definitions of who pharmacy practice faculty and partners are, identify indicators to measure practice-related activities, and provide guidance for evaluating pharmacy practice faculty. Methods: A 4-round, online Delphi was conducted. Panelists with experience evaluating pharmacy practice faculty were invited. Consensus was achieved when there was agreement by at least 70% of panelists. Round 1: Panelists were asked to identify the essential distinguishing characteristics of pharmacy practice faculty and practice partners as well as metrics that could be used to measure practice productivity and quality. Responses were grouped into common themes. Round 2: Panelists were asked to agree, agree with changes, or disagree with themes and metrics identified. Round 3: Panelists were asked to agree, agree with changes, or disagree with definitions of pharmacy practice faculty and practice partners. Panelists were asked about procedural elements of evaluation processes that colleges/schools should adopt. Round 4: panelists were asked about areas of uncertainty that had not yet achieved consensus. Results: A total of 17 experts participated. Consensus definitions for pharmacy practice faculty and practice partners were achieved . From 291 submitted indicators, 14 productivity and 10 quality indicators reached consensus along with recommended frequencies for collection and review. Peer review was identified as an important quality indicator. Recommendations regarding who should participate in the evaluation process and how the data should be used also achieved consensus. Conclusion: Formal mechanisms for evaluating the practice-related activities of pharmacy faculty are critical to ensure this area of responsibility is fairly recognized and considered.

Assessment of clinical productivity tracking via reporting of quality patient indicators

“…As described previously, indicators for quality and productivity have been identified by department chairs to assist in evaluating practice‐related activities of pharmacy faculty . Our study supports that most clinical pharmacists surveyed realize the importance of productivity measures, as over 70% of respondents were already collecting at least one quality indicator.…”

“…While the PQA “promotes appropriate medication use and develops strategies for measuring and reporting performance information related to medications”, the focus to date on their performance measures are high‐value targets (diabetes, hypertension, opioids, and antipsychotics) . Outside these efforts, recent literature assessing the collection and documentation of clinical pharmacy productivity has been directed at School or College of Pharmacy department chairs or their representatives . Our questionnaire is the first to include information from a variety of clinicians, academic faculty, managers, and administrators, allowing for a more diverse representation of disciplines, practice sites, and administrative ranks.…”

“…Eight of the questions were related to collection of quality indicators or clinical productivity measures. The specific quality indicators that were collected for this questionnaire were developed based on a combination of recommendations from previously published literature . The quality indicators collected pertained to time spent at practice site, number of patients seen/reviewed, time spent per patient, consultations, encounter notes, number of recommendations/interventions, intervention type, change in patient labs or vital signs, prevention of adverse drug reactions, cost savings, and number of students/residents precepted.…”

“…With the shift in the pharmacy workforce towards more clinical roles, pharmacy managers and leaders have become increasingly interested in finding ways to consistently evaluate clinical activities . Currently recognized clinical pharmacy domains include direct patient care, pharmacotherapy knowledge, systems‐based care and population health, communication, professionalism, and continuous professional development .…”

“…Although recommendations for measurement of clinical productivity have been published, the what, when, and how data should be collected remains uncertain . Given the level of interest in measuring clinical productivity accurately and consistently, the goal of this study was to assess the current process of clinical productivity tracking across practice sites.…”