Optimization of critical care pharmacy clinical services: A gap analysis approach COMMENT

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Andrea Sikora Newsome, University of Georgia; Brian Murray, University of North Carolina; Susan E. Smith, University of Georgia; Todd Brothers, University of Rhode Island; Mohammad A. Al-Mamun, University of Rhode Island; Aaron M. Chase, University of Georgia; Sandra Rowe, Oregon Health and Science University; Mitchell S. Buckley, Banner University; David Murphy, Emory University; John W. Devlin, Northeastern University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-06-26
• Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2021. All rights reserved
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/zxab237
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH-SYSTEM PHARMACY
• Volume: 78
• Issue: 22
• Start Page: 2077
• End Page: 2085
• Grant/Funding Information: Dr. Newsome has received research funding through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award numbers UL1TR002378 and KL2TR002381; she consults for Ayma Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Devlin has received research funding from the National Institute on Aging, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; he is on the editorial board of Critical Care Medicine. The remaining authors have declared no potential conflicts of interest.
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; PRODUCTIVITY MONITORING TOOLS; HEALTH-SYSTEM PHARMACY; patient safety; DRUG-INTERACTIONS; INDEX; critical care pharmacists; medication safety; pharmacy practice models; MORTALITY; intensive care unit; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; pharmacist-to-patient ratio; WORKLOAD; IMPACT; INTERVENTIONS; INTENSIVE-CARE; Science & Technology; BURNOUT
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, Pharmacy

Abstract

What gets measured, gets improved. —Robert Sharma Every critically ill patient requires care by a critical care pharmacist (CCP) for best possible outcomes. Indeed, these highly trained professionals generate benefit through direct patient care (eg, pharmacist-driven protocols, medication monitoring, etc), participation on the intensive care unit (ICU) interprofessional team (eg, pharmacotherapy recommendations, team education, etc), and leadership in the development and implementation of quality improvement initiatives.1 However, clinical CCP services are not provided for all ICU patients, and CCP staffing models often vary substantially across ICUs in a given hospital and among ICUs in the United States.2-4 In this narrative review, we use a gap analysis approach to define current levels of clinical CCP services, identify barriers to reaching an optimal level of these services, and propose strategies focused on expanding clinical CCP services and justifying those that currently exist.