%0 Journal Article
%T Lost in Translation: Expanding Clinical Pharmacy Services through a Universal Language
%J Archive of "The Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy".
%D 2018
%X Clinical pharmacists are key members of the health care team who ˇ°provide patient care that optimizes medication therapy and promotes health, and disease prevention.ˇ±1 Currently, pharmacy stakeholders and leaders use drug therapy problems (DTPs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) to communicate the impact of clinical pharmacy services on patient outcomes. KPIs are evidence-based, quantifiable measures of quality that result in a positive outcome for a patient.2 A group of Canadian hospital pharmacists has developed a set of clinical pharmacy KPIs that support improvement in the quality of patient care and advance evidence-informed clinical pharmacy practice.3 These measures include activities such as planning pharmaceutical care, resolving DTPs, providing patient education, attending interprofessional patient rounds, and performing medication reconciliation.3 To date, KPIs have been instrumental in demonstrating the positive impact that interventions by clinical pharmacists have on patient outcomes. They have been key measures in expanding the role of clinical pharmacists, yet there are some limitations to their application. One limitation is that KPIs and DTPs are well understood only by pharmacists and are not always meaningful to other health care professionals or hospital administrators. A second limitation is that key stakeholders and decision-makers communicate their performance in terms of hospital metrics, but clinical pharmacy KPIs do not directly translate to these hospital metrics. Therefore, a common language for communication must be developed to advocate effectively for continued expansion of clinical pharmacy services. Use of a common language will help to ensure that nonpharmacist stakeholders and key decision-makers appreciate the significant impact that clinical pharmacists have on patient outcomes
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5931077/