All Health System Pharmacy Metrics Are NOT Created Equal

Ken Perez
Vice President, Healthcare Policy and Government Affairs, Omnicell 

When you invest in technology, you have high hopes that successful adoption will lead to improved pharmacy performance. But how do you measure successful adoption? How can you be sure your technology is making a difference?

In our latest The Future of Pharmacy Podcast, I had the opportunity to talk with OhioHealth’s System Vice-President of Pharmacy Services Charles F. McCluskey III, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, and James Nelson, MBA, Manager of Pharmacy Informatics, to discuss why aligning on key clinical, operational, and business metrics at the outset of any technology project can set you up for long-term success.

Both Charles and James have managed large-scale, system-wide technology implementations, and this conversation is an opportunity to glean insights from their experience. Key learnings shared include:

• Developing a shared strategic vision: Socializing the plan and gathering input from all stakeholders not only helps shape the project – it also fosters engagement and ownership throughout the implementation.
• Employing metrics to communicate project progress and success: Metrics should be tied to your organization but differentiated for key audiences and stakeholders. For example, the metrics for senior executives should differ significantly from those managed within stakeholder departments.
• Leveraging your technology partner to help identify success: Draw on their experience with other health systems to identify the best metrics to demonstrate success.
• Preparing for contingencies: Any project has the potential to go sideways. Metrics help ground difficult conversations and provide the roadmap to move the project forward.

Tune in today to learn more about how aligning with your technology partner on key clinical, operational, and business metrics can support long-term success.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author(s). These views are always subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and may not be held in perpetuity.