Developing Patient-Centered Services, Part 2: Building a Hybrid Pharmacy Practice Model

Abstract

The Director's Forum series is edited by Robert Weber and Scott Mark and is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. We had originally planned a 2-part series on developing a pharmacy practice model that is patient centered; but because of the response, we have expanded the series to 4 parts. This month's article is the second in the series. This article provides the pharmacy director with a primer on the types, development, and implementation characteristics of pharmacy practice models.

Impact of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative on Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Practice

“…A 2007 article proposes a systematic framework for pharmacy redesign to assist in setting priorities according to feasibility and potential reward . Examples of successful programs include a hybrid practice model developed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that used some of these principles to incorporate academic specialists and unit‐based generalists into a dynamic team . At the University of Wisconsin, one goal is to develop a comprehensive pharmacy practice model, with all pharmacists accountable for medication management working in teams to provide clinical and distributive services by an integrated, patient‐centered, unit‐based, decentralized pharmacy practice model .…”

“…33 Examples of successful programs include a hybrid practice model developed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that used some of these principles to incorporate academic specialists and unit-based generalists into a dynamic team. 34 At the University of Wisconsin, one goal is to develop a comprehensive pharmacy practice model, with all pharmacists accountable for medication management working in teams to provide clinical and distributive services by an integrated, patient-centered, unitbased, decentralized pharmacy practice model. 35 Similarly, at the University of North Carolina, redefining practice roles with recognition of the importance of centralized pharmacists highly skilled in distribution processes and technology, IMPACT OF PPMI ON CLINICAL PHARMACY SPECIALIST PRACTICE Jacobi et al e45 working together with clinical pharmacy generalists, has allowed practitioners to provide a broad range of decentralized patient care and distributive services.…”

Enhancing Practice Models by Recruiting Pharmacists with Specialty Training

“…As the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) practice model initiative stimulates change, the demand for advanced practice (or specialty) pharmacists will increase. 1-3 For example, a director of pharmacy in a 300-bed hospital may want to expand his or her direct patient care services to the intensive care unit (ICU), which may require hiring a pharmacist with experience or training in critical care (eg, PGY-2 specialty residency in critical care). Job opportunities for specialty practice pharmacists continue to grow, and there is competition among pharmacy directors and other leaders for the best candidate.…”

Toward the Future: Pharmacy Practice Models

“…To this end, I am pleased to announce that the Director's Forum column, edited by Robert Weber and Scott Mark, has provided a practical and thoughtful series of articles regarding several aspects of pharmacy practice models. [4][5][6][7] This 4part series, which began in January of 2011, represents a valuable resource and guide for directors who are seeking to enhance their department's practice. In ad-dition, this series may serve as an educational tool for prompting discussion with hospital administrators, pharmacy residents, and students.…”

“…The first article in the series 4 presented a primer on the various types of pharmacy practice models and the internal and external forces that affect those models. The remaining articles [5][6][7] in the series probe the development and implementation of patient-centered practice models in a variety of settings (eg, academic medical center, pediatric practice model). Each of these articles offers vigorous detail and discussion regarding the factors required for success: establishing effective team relationships, overcoming operational challenges, determining priority areas for pharmacist coverage, using metrics to measure outcomes, developing pharmacy staffing matrixes, and recruiting qualified staff.…”