Want to know the impact of a pharmacist?
An innovative scorecard developed by UF College of Pharmacy faculty is using patient data to reveal how pharmacists are improving health care. The scorecard tracks key metrics across multiple diseases at eight UF Health outpatient clinics and provides quantitative data to show the impact of pharmacy faculty in an ambulatory care setting.
Outcomes Tracked
The scorecard provides quantitative data for five outcomes using different standards and benchmarks that can be used for comparisons. The data shared on this website were collected in 2021.
Diabetic Patients
The scorecard evaluated whether diabetic patients cared for by pharmacy faculty were at a targeted goal. In 2021, the scorecard revealed that more than 82% of patients who were administered an A1C test were at the targeted goal of having an A1C less than nine, which is above the Faculty Practice Solution Center benchmark of 79%.
Hypertension Patients
The scorecard evaluated blood pressure levels to determine the level control achieved by patients with hypertension. Data from 2021 showed that 66% of hypertension patients treated by pharmacy faculty were at the goal (<140/90 mmHg), which is above the Healthy People 2030 Goal of 61%.
Patients Taking Medications to Prevent Blood Clots
The scorecard reviewed the International Normalized Ratio number, which is used to evaluate the degree of control of patients who take warfarin to prevent blood clots. Data from 2021 revealed that 75% of patients were within the targeted range to minimize adverse events and optimize efficacy (INR between 1.8-3.7).
Patient Visits
The scorecard tracked the number of patients seen by a UF College of Pharmacy pharmacist at UF Health’s outpatient clinics.
Access to Care
The scorecard tracked the number of times a patient seeks care from a UF College of Pharmacy faculty pharmacist in relation to the number of visits with other members of the health care team.
Results
Preliminary results from the scorecard were shared at the 2021 American College of Clinical Pharmacy Annual Meeting.
Nguyen KA, DeRemer CE, Dietric EA, Farland MZ. Methods to develop an ambulatory care scorecard to quantitatively measure the clinical outcomes of clinical faculty pharmacists at a health learning system. Poster presentation at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). Phoenix, AZ, October 2021. VIEW POSTER
8,000+ UF College of Pharmacy pharmacists engaged in more than 8,000 patient visits in the clinic, via telehealth or the telephone in 2020.
Above National Averages In evaluating quality measures related to A1C, blood pressure and IRN measurements, patients seen by UF College of Pharmacy pharmacists reported outcomes above national averages.
Increasing Access Patients under the care of UF College of Pharmacy pharmacists reported seeing their pharmacist more often than their physician.
"This clinical scorecard demonstrates the value that pharmacists provide and the real impact they are having on patient care. Colleges of pharmacy throughout the country can implement this model and show their health care administrators that opportunities that exist when faculty pharmacists are more engaged in outpatient settings."
John Gums, Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacy and medicine and the associate dean for clinical and administrative affairs at the UF College of Pharmacy
Meet the Scorecard Developers
UF College of Pharmacy
Khoa Nguyen, Pharm.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor Khoa Nguyen, Pharm.D., led a team of clinical faculty in the UF College of Pharmacy in developing the scorecard. As a data scientist and informatics expert, Nguyen is uniquely trained to identify ways to use data to improve patient care and safely administer medications.
Michelle Z Farland Pharm.D.