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Virtual ASHP APPE - Week Three

By Rachel Crusius posted 09-21-2021 10:27

  

Finishing up week three and I can’t believe how quickly time is passing! This week, I thought I would dive a bit deeper into the quality measure work I have been doing thus far while at ASHP and discuss what I have learned about the ASHP Pharmacy Advancement Initiative (PAI) 2030. 

As you may have seen last week, I discussed submitting some comments in support of efforts from the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) in their development of a measure regarding simultaneous benzodiazepine and opioid prescription/use (COB). That measure was being considered by the National Quality Forum (NQF) Patient Safety Portfolio Standing Committee for re-evaluation and re-endorsement. The Pharmacy Quality Alliance is member-based organization that strives to research and develop quality measures that are then shaped and revised by their members with a goal to improve medication safety, adherence, and appropriate use. These measures, like the one for concomitant benzodiazepine and opioid use, are frequently put forth to organizations like the National Quality Forum to be evaluated for evidence and performance quality. Once a measure is endorsed by NQF, pay for performance reporting programs like Medicaid, Medicare part D, and Medicare can then choose to include these measures as markers that pharmacies across the nation must abide by to continue working with those plans If you are interested in learning more about the COB measure I evaluated or other measures being examined by NQF, I recommend checking out NQF’s Quality Positioning System to see a list of the measures and additional details on each. In the end, these organizations are striving provide the best quality of care to our patients.  Truly a noble goal! 

This week, we also submitted some comments and wrote up a summary about revisions being reviewed by the Joint Commission (TJC) regarding their Antibiotic Stewardship program accreditation requirements. As many of you may know, the Joint Commission is an accreditation program that strives to improve health care organizations and inspire them to improve their quality of service. Part of the way that they do this is by developing standards like the Antibiotic Stewardship program requirements. These outline ways that the health systems can improve healthcare for their patients while achieving TJC accreditation. Accreditation through TJC can be given to hospitals, ambulatory care, pharmacies, laboratory services, assisted living communities, and more. ASHP has provided feedback on the accreditation standards put forth by TJC for several years now and includes comments from our members about the realities of everyday practice and concerns they may have about the standards being developed and/or revised. This is a great opportunity to get involved as an ASHP member and provide insight to TJC so they may adjust their standards to better reflect the true nature of pharmacy practice. To learn more about the standards set and under field review by TJC, you can visit their Standards page on their website. 

Lastly, I was able to work on updating some self-assessment tools for ASHP’s Practice Advancement Initiative 2030 (PAI 2030) page. This initiative was started in 2010 with the goal to significantly advance the health and well-being of people by supporting patient-centered care delivery models that optimize the most effective use of pharmacists as direct patient care providers. They support this goal by having developed 59 recommendations that fall into one of five domains: patient-centered care, pharmacist’s role/education/training, technology and data science, pharmacy technician’s role/education/training, or leadership in medication use and safety. The recommendations can also be on a profession, organization, or practice focused within each of these give domains. This week I worked to update the Self-Assessment Tool provided on the PAI 2030 website. I did a trial of this tool and was amazed by its results! You fill out a questionnaire about the current status of operations at your workplace and it returns recommendations based on importance and feasibility of implementation (provided by your answers in the survey) to form an action plan. I think this is an amazing tool to utilize as a practitioner of pharmacy in order to further our profession and provide our patients with the best quality of care. 

Next week is ASHP’s Policy Week! I am so excited to attend and update everyone about my experience throughout the month at ASHP. If you are interested in applying for the ASHP APPE or want more details about my experience here, I am available for any questions. 

Rachel Crusius 

ReCrusius@salud.unm.edu 

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