Professional pharmacy Services' outcomes performance measurement: A narrative review

Abstract

Background

Professional pharmacy services are widely recognized for their role in promoting patient health and ensuring optimal medication therapy outcomes. Community pharmacies and pharmacists need to assess professional services' performance at patient level and demonstrate their value to stakeholders. To do so is important to understand which outcome performance indicators are currently being used and how added value is proven.

Objective

To identify performance indicators that measure patients' outcomes and demonstrate value of professional pharmacy services.

Methods

A narrative review was performed based on a systematic search in Pubmed and Scopus databases since year 2000. Manually search was also conducted in Google Scholar and Google.com. Inclusion criteria followed the PCC mnemonic in which Population is “community pharmacies”, Context is “pharmaceutical care, professional pharmaceutical services or pharmaceutical interventions” and Concept is “key performance indicators, or performance measures or clinical indicators”. English, Spanish or Portuguese language were accepted.

Results

All types of papers were included, adding up to a total of 12 papers. The publication of papers on this subject has increased in the last decade. Outcomes indicators identified were based in different frameworks, mainly linked to quality, and were clearly outlined. Disease and therapy management were the most evaluated services. Indicators were identified across 8 different domains corresponding, predominantly, to outputs rather than outcomes. Measurement is mainly conducted under the auspices of coalitions, alliances, government and payers reflecting their perspectives and based on easy-to-retrieve pharmacy data and information.

Conclusions

A paradigm shift is needed, so that performance indicators are based on more appropriate frameworks to measure patient level outcomes and value assignment of professional pharmacy services. By providing robust evidence of the impact of pharmacist interventions on patient outcomes, community pharmacists can advocate for the integration, expansion, and recognition of pharmacist-led services within the broader healthcare system.