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Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings

Judicious use of medicines that considers evidence-based practice, together with cost-effectiveness, is a priority for all health care organisations. We describe an initiative to lead a Medication Utilisation Program, incorporating medication quality improvement and research activities. In August 20...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Whitfield, Karen, Coombes, Ian, Denaro, Charles, Donovan, Peter
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8628968/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34842809
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9040182
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author Whitfield, Karen
Coombes, Ian
Denaro, Charles
Donovan, Peter
author_facet Whitfield, Karen
Coombes, Ian
Denaro, Charles
Donovan, Peter
author_sort Whitfield, Karen
collection PubMed
description Judicious use of medicines that considers evidence-based practice, together with cost-effectiveness, is a priority for all health care organisations. We describe an initiative to lead a Medication Utilisation Program, incorporating medication quality improvement and research activities. In August 2020 an advanced pharmacist position was implemented to lead the Program. The purpose was to provide oversight and facilitate initiatives promoting medication optimisation to create sustainable change in practice. A strategic plan was developed with key performance indicators. A governance structure was implemented with relevant reporting mechanisms. Strategic planning and collaboration with medical, nursing and allied health professionals has seen the successful implementation of seven codesigned medication-use evaluations and eight quality improvement projects centred around patient safety, quality and value-based care. Several research studies have been designed with subsequent commencement of pharmacists enrolled in university Research Higher Degree programs. Cost containment initiatives have realised potential savings approximating AUD 250,000. Educational programs included protocol design, ethics approvals and report writing. Key success criteria for a Medication Utilisation Program include dedicated pharmacist resources, structured governance and reporting mechanisms. Alignment of study complexity with staff experience and interdisciplinary collaboration are also critical.
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spelling pubmed-86289682021-11-30 Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings Whitfield, Karen Coombes, Ian Denaro, Charles Donovan, Peter Pharmacy (Basel) Article Judicious use of medicines that considers evidence-based practice, together with cost-effectiveness, is a priority for all health care organisations. We describe an initiative to lead a Medication Utilisation Program, incorporating medication quality improvement and research activities. In August 2020 an advanced pharmacist position was implemented to lead the Program. The purpose was to provide oversight and facilitate initiatives promoting medication optimisation to create sustainable change in practice. A strategic plan was developed with key performance indicators. A governance structure was implemented with relevant reporting mechanisms. Strategic planning and collaboration with medical, nursing and allied health professionals has seen the successful implementation of seven codesigned medication-use evaluations and eight quality improvement projects centred around patient safety, quality and value-based care. Several research studies have been designed with subsequent commencement of pharmacists enrolled in university Research Higher Degree programs. Cost containment initiatives have realised potential savings approximating AUD 250,000. Educational programs included protocol design, ethics approvals and report writing. Key success criteria for a Medication Utilisation Program include dedicated pharmacist resources, structured governance and reporting mechanisms. Alignment of study complexity with staff experience and interdisciplinary collaboration are also critical. MDPI 2021-11-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8628968/ /pubmed/34842809 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9040182 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Whitfield, Karen
Coombes, Ian
Denaro, Charles
Donovan, Peter
Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings
title Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings
title_full Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings
title_fullStr Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings
title_full_unstemmed Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings
title_short Medication Utilisation Program, Quality Improvement and Research Pharmacist—Implementation Strategies and Preliminary Findings
title_sort medication utilisation program, quality improvement and research pharmacist—implementation strategies and preliminary findings
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8628968/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34842809
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9040182
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