6 Operations & Management
Pharmacy Practice News • March 2022
ASHP News
ASHP Receives Federal Funds to Address Burnout By Dave Doolittle
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SHP has been awarded more than $2 million to develop an educational program designed to help reduce burnout throughout the pharmacy profession and in healthcare overall. The grant, totaling $2.3 million over three years, was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). ASHP will use the grant to develop an educational curriculum that will allow healthcare workers, particularly those in the pharmacy profession, to implement local solutions to promote well-being and resilience, said Anna Legreid Dopp, PharmD, ASHP’s senior director of Clinical Guidelines and Quality Improvement. The curriculum will be another key ASHP resource aimed at reducing burnout among pharmacists, pharmacy residents and students, she said. “We know more needs to be done, and that’s why we’re so excited because this grant will allow us to do more to support the pharmacy workforce and those they work for in their practices,” Dr. Legreid Dopp said. ASHP for decades has recognized burnout as a patient care problem and has focused on helping members build resilience and develop tools to help address burnout, Dr. Legreid Dopp said. The problem is nationwide and complex, with at least 53% of health-system
pharmacists reporting some form of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization or a low sense of accomplishment, according to a 2018 survey (Am J Health Syst Pharm 2018;75[23 Supplement 4]:S93-S100). “Going back to the 1980s, our members have talked about the risk of burnout for those practicing in hospitals, but we have heard from members in the past 10 years that something is different in the environment,” Dr. Legreid Dopp said. “That caused our leadership to make a meaningful commitment to acknowledge there are inherent risk factors … that are causing those in the pharmacy workforce and healthcare workforce overall to burn out at a higher rate
than had been [the case] previously.” Those factors include the documentation demands of electronic health records, regulatory burdens, a feeling of diminishing autonomy and lack of time to recover from stressful events, Dr. Legreid Dopp said. The unprecedented demands of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated the problem, she said. “At its core we see burnout as a patient care problem. If your clinician is experiencing burnout, then patient care might be at risk,” Dr. Legreid Dopp said. “We’re all about caring for the patient while recognizing that the pharmacy workforce is a critical part of the interprofessional healthcare team. Siloed approaches on this are short-sighted so we need to look
at this across all disciplines and to support the entire healthcare workforce.” ASHP resources to curb burnout include a dedicated continuing education program for members and a certificate program for healthcare organizations that focuses largely on how to create cultures of well-being and resilience. “Burnout is a local problem, and it requires local solutions,” Dr. Legreid Dopp said. “This is a systems problem, so our efforts are aimed at supporting individuals to fix their workforce.” ASHP is among 34 organizations that received HRSA grants to develop training programs to help public safety professionals address burnout, suicide, mental health conditions and substance use disorders, the HRSA said. Ten other organizations received grants to help healthcare organizations establish, improve or expand such programs, according to HRSA. “If you look at the awards being granted as part of this package, it speaks to the complexity of the issue and recognizes that there’s not an easy solution or one solution that can be [applied] across all sectors,” Dr. Legreid Dopp said. “It’s going to take a multifactorial response to addressing the issue. We see it as a big puzzle, and we’re excited to be a piece in that puzzle.” The sources reported no relevant financial disclosures.
New Certification Tool Highlights Practice Excellence By David Wild
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ospitals and health systems have a new tool for honing best practices: ASHP’s Centers of Excellence certification program. “This certification [allows] institutions to differentiate themselves from others through innovative, high-quality, safe and effective pharmacy services,” said Douglas Scheckelhoff, MS, ASHP’s senior vice president. “There has long been discussion within health-system pharmacy to create a nursing Magnet-like program that is specific to pharmacy,” and the certification program meets that need, he noted during the ASHP 2021 Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition, held virtually. One key component of the Centers of Excellence certification program is its focus on integration, according to David Warner, PharmD, ASHP’s senior director of consulting and practice. “Making sure the pharmacy department has strong relationships with other disciplines and leaders within the organization, that their services are integrated throughout the organization and that pharmacists
are involved in team-based care ensures the medication expertise of pharmacists is used throughout the organization to maximize drug safety and efficacy,” Dr. Warner said at the ASHP meeting. Achieving certification will depend on several areas, including the use of standards for leadership, management and patient care services. Surveyors also will look at quality and performance improvement initiatives as well as education, training and research programs, among other components. Organizations pursuing certification also will need to demonstrate that they use the most rigorous processes to support safe medication use across the organization, Dr. Warner said. Surveyors will evaluate medication-use policy, formulary approval processes and medication safety best practices, including the use of information technology and automation. According to Mr. Scheckelhoff, pharmacies that achieve certification can showcase their Centers of Excellence designation to patients as they choose where they want to receive care, as well
as highlighting this certification to a range of other stakeholders. “Centers can promote this certification to their payors, much the same as is done by the nursing profession relative to Magnet status, and certification can lead to research opportunities for pharmacy practice,” he said.
Gearing Up for a Gap Analysis Stephen Eckel, PharmD, MHA, the director of pharmacy for innovation services at UNC Medical Center and an associate professor at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, in Chapel Hill, N.C., said his organization is gearing up for a gap analysis as a first step in evaluating the process of pursuing this certification. “Hospital patients want to make sure they’re getting the best care, and one pillar of optimal care is safe and appropriate medication administration utilization,” Dr. Eckel told Pharmacy Practice News. “Having a designation that the Department of Pharmacy is a Center of Excellence ensures that the public knows they’re being treated at an organization [that] follows all best practices and processes.”
Dr. Eckel cited another certification benefit: it can help pharmacy make the case for additional funding and use those funds to optimize pharmacy resources, as well as ensure operations and processes meet the most rigorous standards. “Every leader should want their pharmacy and their organization to perform at the highest level of patient care and safety,” Dr. Eckel said. More details regarding the certification can be found at bit.ly/3HF9MkC.
UC San Diego Scores First In mid-February, ASHP announced that the University of California San Diego Health is the first organization to be named a Certified Center of Excellence in Medication-Use Safety and Pharmacy Practice. The certification recognizes the health system’s “highperforming pharmacy department for its commitment to superior patient care,” ASHP noted in a press release. The sources reported no relevant financial disclosures.
