Pharmacy Management Skills Quiz

Benefits and Feedback

• Other benefits available include conferences, membership, meetings, certification cost, lunch, tickets, and more responsible task assignments
• Informal feedback should be consistent to improve performance, reduce employee uncertainty, and correct behavior immediately and appropriately
• Formal appraisal should not be a surprise, and praise a job well done to develop a positive relationship and positive reaction

Quality Metrics and Medication Safety

• Reasons to measure safety and quality:
  • To see if we are doing a good job
  • Prioritize actions
  • Gain support for additional resources
  • Provide impetus for action
  • Compare with peers
  • Gain recognition from external entities
• Differentiate process measure from outcome measure:
  • Process measure: focuses on activities or processes
  • Outcome measure: focuses on results or outcomes

Strategic Planning

• Barriers to planning:
  • Failure to commit sufficient time to planning
  • Lack of planning skills
  • Failure to plan far enough into the future
  • Interpersonal issues
  • Constantly changing environment
  • Failure to implement due to lack of time and resources
  • Failure to monitor progress
  • Lack of support from top executives
  • Planning is guesswork, and plans are only as good as the data
• An organization's strategic plan should include:
  • Defined purpose
  • Assessment of current climate
  • Description of goals and objectives with a timeline for completion

Opportunities and Pharmacy Distinction

• Opportunities for pharmacy staff:
  • Staffing
  • Workflow
  • Problem-solving
  • Conflict resolution
  • Developing policies and procedures
  • Delivering quality pharmacy services
  • Collaboration with other healthcare professionals
  • Evaluations, supervision, and coaching
  • Involvement in decisions
• Pharmacy is distinguished from "production worker" businesses because it transforms human resources and physical goods into a custom solution for each individual patient

Managing Tasks and Communication

• Manager's role: managing HR and tasks derived from the pharmacy's goals to produce quality customer service
• Tasks should be:
  • Clear
  • Concise
  • Measurable
  • Prioritized for completion
• Changing circumstances change the order in which tasks need to be approached

Equity in Rewards Management

• Promotions and salary increases should be based on fair and objective criteria
• Provides data and deficiencies to reduce costs and litigation

Performance Appraisal Processes

• Types of performance appraisal processes:
  • Absolute
  • Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)
  • Graphic Rating
  • Relative Outcome-Oriented Ranking
  • Critical Incident
  • Checklist
  • Essay
• Strengths and weaknesses of each type

Process Measures

• Examples of process measures:
  • Warfarin use:
    • Percentage of patients who experience a blood clot or bleed
    • Percentage of time patient's INR is measured to be in the "target" range
  • Insulin use:
    • Incidence of symptomatic hypoglycemia
    • Percentage of patients who received the appropriate dose of sliding scale insulin
  • Teratogenic drugs:
    • Number of patients who suffered fetal abnormalities from use in pregnancy
    • Percentage of patients who had a negative pregnancy test prior to initiation of drug

Test your knowledge on pharmacy management skills including staffing workflow, problem solving, conflict resolution, and developing lasting relationships. Learn about policies, procedures, protocols, and quality services in pharmacies. Explore collaboration with other healthcare professionals and the role of a manager.