Why Learning Informatics Can Improve Clinical Practice, A Student's Perspective
by
Ruixin Shi
Going into pharmacy school,I had a very clinically-focused career pathway in mind. I know I will do a PGY1 residency and possibly specialize through a PGY2 afterwards. I will then live out the rest of my happy life as a clinical pharmacist. When I found out I had an informatics rotation at ASHP, I felt completely outside of my element. While I was beyond excited for the opportunity, I really had no substantial exposure to the world of informatics in pharmacy practice outside of a few lectures at the University of Michigan. Fortunately, my preceptor (and fellow Wolverine) Dr. Allie Woods, was there to provide me with resources and guidance to start my learning.
My first week at ASHP consisted of refreshers on the basic concepts of informatics. I was also introduced to some of the hot topics, such as ICD-10 implementation and SNOMED CT, as well as the wonderful world of data visualization. I began to realize just how integral informatics is to pharmacy practice. However, I do not believe enough information is taught to students in pharmacy school curriculums. Students often have bits and pieces about informatics dispersed throughout different classes, but not many pharmacy schools have dedicated sections or classes on pharmacy informatics. Students like me, who may not end up in pharmacy informatics as a career, might not fully appreciate and recognize the importance of the informaticists and its role in clinical pharmacy practice
Informatics is very much at the heart of pharmacy practice. In fact, informatics is important in every step of medication-use cycle, from prescribing to dispensing to the patient’s bedside. Informaticists helps tremendously in improving clinical practice by increasing efficiency, improving safety, and saving costs for those of us that interact with patients directly. I did not realize how much work informaticists put into designing systems that are intuitive to use, comprehensive in scope, and constantly up-to-date, all for the purpose of improving clinical outcomes.
It is my belief that it is equally important for clinical pharmacists to understand the technical processes behind the operation. This allows for better communication with team to work together and solve system-wide problems. Understanding what can and cannot be changed or modified helps the team tremendously in finding solutions. Understanding systems and processes also allows the pharmacist to have a top-down view on their practices. All too often, clinical pharmacists are so concentrated in their specific field that they forget about the entire workflow and operation. Knowing how information and alerts are presented to other clinicians can help to eliminate assumptions and will improve overall patient safety. On the hardware side of things, pharmacists should be well aware of the currently existing technologies as well as their limitations. Pharmacists should also be aware of future technologies and be able to adapt to them once implemented. These are just a few of my own observations of why clinical pharmacists should understand informatics. If you have more, please share them on this blog!