New AJHP Study Finds Clinical Dashboards Improve HSSP Reporting

May 2024

AJHP published a CPS study evaluating clinical dashboard usage in the specialty pharmacy setting. We discussed the findings and implications with lead author Casey Fitzpatrick, Pharm.D.

A leading peer-reviewed journal has published another groundbreaking clinical outcomes study from CPS' health system specialty pharmacy (HSSP) network. The American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (AJHP) recently published the study, “Clinical Dashboard Development and Implementation to Standardize Data Capture and Reporting Across Health System Specialty Pharmacies." It evaluated how HSSPs use clinical dashboards for outcomes measurement and reporting.

The study authors included: Casey Fitzpatrick, PharmD, BCPS, Carson Kantoris, (PharmD student), Carly Giavatto, PharmD, Ana I Lopez-Medina, PharmD, Jessica Mourani, PharmD, Brandon Hardin, PharmD, MBA, CSP, Hector Mayol Torres, BSEE, Amber Skrtic, PharmD, CSP, AAHIVP, Erica Rosa, MPH.

CPS interviewed Dr. Fitzpatrick, the lead author, to discuss the study's findings, implications, and lessons for HSSPs. An excerpt of the conversation is below.

CPS: Congratulations! Tell us more: Why were we interested in learning how HSSPs use clinical dashboards?

DR. FITZPATRICK: Thank you! It's an honor to have the opportunity to help other HSSPs improve their measurement, reporting, and care quality.

• What we studied: We wanted to assess how HSSPs use clinical dashboards to track outcomes, performance, and value. In traditional healthcare settings, providers use dashboards to gather clinical data, monitor patient progress, and track outcomes for clinical improvements. Clinical dashboards can offer similar benefits for HSSPs.
• Why we studied clinical dashboards: For years, we have been using clinical dashboards to collect, analyze, and optimize clinical outcomes measures across our own specialty pharmacy network. They have helped us improve patient care, and we know they can help others, too. However, there is limited available data outlining optimal methodologies for HSSP data capture and outcome reporting.

Understanding how HSSP teams use dashboards can help our industry standardize their utilization. In turn, we hope this drives better patient care and outcomes.

CPS: How do HSSPs use clinical dashboards?

DR. FITZPATRICK: We use clinical dashboards across our network of specialty pharmacies to compile and evaluate clinical outcomes data across multiple sites. They make it easy to access and present concise data. 

Clinical dashboards are designed to automatically aggregate data from our HSSPs and provide real-time, disease-specific insights regarding care processes and patient outcomes. They provide consistency for our network's clinical outcomes measurement processes. This is a standard reporting process for us, and we envision it could become standard for other HSSPs, too.

CPS: What key findings did we learn from studying clinical dashboard utilization?

DR. FITZPATRICK: We learned many interesting things, though several findings stand out:

• Clinical dashboards can help HSSPs monitor real-time performance to identify and understand operational and clinical gaps.
• HSSPs must carefully plan and prepare their dashboards to align with clinical goals and desired outcomes.
• Standardized processes for measuring and reporting patient outcomes are beneficial for HSSPs.
  

It was also interesting to observe improvements in our data collection. After implementing dashboards across our network, we saw statistically significant improvements in PROM capture rates, collected test and lab data, and protocol-driven pharmacist interventions. Our measurement approaches are driving better data, which are leading to better patient outcomes.

CPS: Why should HSSPs standardize clinical dashboard utilization?

DR. FITZPATRICK: By nature, specialty pharmacists are central figures on the care team. We often have access to a wealth of patient data from disparate sources like medical and surgical histories, current and historical prescriptions, lab and test results, and more. 

This means we're well-equipped to help patients and care teams see inflection points and trends along the care journey. Clinical dashboards are the tool to help us get there. They help HSSPs:

• Improve patient monitoring, evaluation, and interventions to advance clinical goals.  
• Spot and address barriers like medication nonadherence more quickly to drive better outcomes.
• Streamline workflows so quantitative and qualitative performance measures are more easily captured, reported, and assessed.
• Drive efficiencies and appropriate therapy adherence to reduce costs.
• Demonstrate value to payors and manufacturers for improved market access to specialty or limited distribution drugs.

When HSSPs use dashboards effectively, they can merge clinical practice with business intelligence and data analytics. This allows us to demonstrate clinical outcomes and their significance.

CPS: What can HSSPs learn from our conclusions?

DR. FITZPATRICK: You can't change what you don't measure. HSSPs should consider implementing a standardized approach for measuring and reporting clinical outcomes. Clinical dashboards can help.
This approach delivers a systematic reporting process, which can help promote high-quality care and outcomes. Health systems can utilize this data to analyze trends and recognize areas of opportunity so that measures can be taken to improve patient care.

CPS: Where can people learn more?

DR. FITZPATRICK: We encourage people to read the manuscript in AJHP and collaborate with us as we work to collectively improve our measurement approaches and patient care in the HSSP setting.