“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way you will command the attention of the world.”
George Washington Carver
There are many hospitals and clinics performing advanced pharmacy practice activities. These practice sites commonly do pretty much the same basic things. You could say that these clinical functions are common to all of us. Our challenge is to do them uncommonly. When we do this – consistently and for every patient – there will be no question about our profession’s legitimacy or value.
The ASHP Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) Summit and subsequent Ambulatory Care Summit brought together many pharmacy thought leaders and experienced practitioners who came to consensus on practice advancement opportunities and recommendations. These recommendations are published in AJHP and are found at: PPMI Consensus Recommendations and Ambulatory Care Consensus Recommendations . Following the Ambulatory Care Summit, ASHP’s efforts to advance practice were rebranded to the Practice Advancement Initiative (PAI). This renewed effort to move pharmacy forward encompasses all pharmacy team members throughout the healthcare continuum.
Ways to gauge alignment with the consensus recommendations and to monitor progress are through the use of the PAI Hospital Self-Assessment and/or Ambulatory Care Self-Assessment and their corresponding action plans. The self-assessments are “made to order” gap analysis tools for helping determine individual practitioner, organizational, and/or state affiliate initiatives.
The PAI self-assessments are a useful, no cost, and concrete engagement mechanism to help an individual practitioner, organization, and/or state affiliates analyze practice gaps and establish focused priorities for improvement. Many sites have found unique ways of leveraging the self-assessment on a recurring basis as a foundation for strategic planning. Find out more about how Dr. Edward Saito in Oregon or Dr. Margie Padilla in Texas have leveraged the ambulatory care self-assessment for their practices: Utilizing an Ambulatory Care Self-Assessment Survey as Part of the Residency Practice Management Experience and Ambulatory Care Self-Assessment: Leadership Opportunity for Residents.
In the context of provider status efforts, ambulatory care expansion (specifically in underserved areas) is likely on the horizon. Pharmacy must be poised to take on new opportunities and embrace the opportunities of providing direct patient care in the ambulatory care setting. PAI serves as a framework and support system for helping to maximize your team efforts.
For more information on how you can get started, how to best leverage these tools, and/or if you would like someone to help facilitate self-assessment completion with you, please contact
ASHPPAI@ashp.org, Dr. Jackie Boyle of Ohio at
jboyle2@neomed.edu , or Dr. Ellina Seckel of Wisconsin at
Ellina.Seckel@va.gov.