Telepharmacy scorecard: Activity and quality indicators for the pharmaceutical care in a hospital pharmacy service;

Autores de IIS La Fe

• Emilio Monte Boquet

  Autor

Participantes ajenos a IIS La Fe

• Sanmartín-Fenollera P.
• Mangues-Bafalluy I.
• Talens-Bolos A.
• Ibarra-Barrueta O.
• Villamañán-Bueno E.
• Morillo-Verdugo R.
• Margusino-Framiñán L.

Abstract

Objective: Telepharmacy, as a complementary activity to face-to-face pharmaceutical care in a Hospital pharmacy service, must have specific activity, effectiveness and quality indicators. The objectives of the project were to design a scorecard of activity, effectiveness and quality indicators that will make it possible to assess the situation and progress of Telepharmacy and enable continuous improvement. A tool is also provided to measure the indicators, and some recommendations are given for its implementation. Method: The project, led by a panel of expert pharmacists, was developed in 2021 in four phases: a literature review, preliminary identification of quality criteria and indicators, evaluation of indicators, adjustment of the proposal and definition of priority indicators, and drafting of descriptive files, as well as the development and validation of a scorecard. The indicators were prioritized based on their appropriateness, usefulness, relevance and feasibility. Finally, the scorecard was submitted for evaluation by the members and Patient Committee of the Spanish Hospital Pharmacy Society. Results: The resulting scorecard consists of 50 indicators grouped into five areas: General aspects (18); pharmacotherapeutic follow-up (12); home drug delivery (15); patient information and education (2); and coordination with the care team (3). A total of 31 were considered priority or essential indicators, which are initially recommended for the implementation of a Telepharmacy program. In contrast, 15 are general indicators, including measurement of patient and professional satisfaction; 6 indicators refer to pharmacotherapeutic follow-up; 1 is related to patient information and education, and 2 correspond to care team coordination. Conclusions: The scorecard developed is a management tool for the implementation and evaluation of Telepharmacy in the Hospital pharmacy service. This tool enables assessing the initial situation, monitoring implementation progress, measuring quality and performance, facilitating decision-making and establishing an improvement plan. © 2022 Sociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria

Keywords

• Hospitals; Humans; Pharmacy Service, Hospital; Quality Indicators, Health Care; health care quality; hospital; hospital pharmacy; human