KEY PRACTICES OUTLINED FOR HOSPITAL PHARMACY

The landmark High PerformancePharmacy studyidentifies the core bestpractices that define highperformance within a hospitalpharmacy. The studycategorizes these bestpractices so that health systemexecutives and pharmacyleaders can implementthem to enhancepatient safety, clinicalquality, and financial performance.

These best practicesform what the study identifiesas the 8 Dimensionsof High Performance: leadership,medication preparation,patient care services,medication safety,medication use policy, financialperformance, humanresource management,and education. Buildingon the 8 dimensions,the study also providesthe industry's first set of~70 financial and clinicalperformance indicatorsthat health systems canfollow to gauge their progressin reaching these 8goals.

Southwest WashingtonMedical Center and LomaLinda University MedicalCenter are 2 health systemsthat have implementedmany of the bestpractices outlined in thestudy. Both health carefacilities have seen significantresults.

The study, from theHealth Systems PharmacyExecutive Alliance andMcKesson Corp, is availableat www.highperformancepharmacy.com.