The usefulness of an ambulatory care pharmacy performance dashboard during the COVID-19 pandemic in a complex tertiary care system

Abstract

Purpose To describe the usefulness of an innovative “semi–real-time” pharmacy dashboard in managing workload during the unpredictable coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Summary We created a pharmacy dashboard to monitor workload and key performance indicators during the dynamic COVID-19 crisis. The dashboard accessed the prescribing workload from our clinical information system and filled prescriptions from robotic prescription dispensing systems. The aggregated data was visualized using modern tools. The dashboard presents performance data in near real time and is updated every 15 minutes. After validation during the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis, the dashboard provided reliable data and served as a great decision support aid in calculating the backlog of prescribed but unfilled prescriptions. It also aided in adjusting manpower, identifying prescribing and dispensing patterns, identifying trends, and diverting staff resources to appropriate locations. The dashboard has been useful in clearing the backlog in a timely manner, staff planning, and predicting the next coming surge so that we can proactively minimize accumulation of backlogged prescriptions. Conclusion Developing a dynamic, semi–real-time pharmacy dashboard during unstable circumstances such as those that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic can be very useful in ambulatory care pharmacy workload management.

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