Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2-2022
Abstract
Purpose
Emergency medicine pharmacists (EMPs) have been demonstrated to have a positive impact on patient outcomes in a variety of clinical scenarios in the emergency department (ED), yet their distribution across the nation is suboptimal. An emergency medicine pharmacy intensity score tool (EMPIST) would not only facilitate the quantification of EMP staffing needs and ideal resource deployment times, but would also allow practitioners to triage patient care activities. The purpose of this investigation was to develop an EMPIST and evaluate its relationship to EMP activities.
Methods
This was a multicenter, prospective, observational analysis of an EMPIST developed by practicing EMPs. EMPs prospectively documented their clinical activities during usual care for patients in their ED. Spearman’s rank-order correlation was used to determine any correlation between the EMPIST and pharmacist activities.
Results
In total, 970 EMP activities and 584 EMPIST items were documented in 352 patients by 7 EMPs across 7 different EDs. The most commonly documented EMP interventions performed were bedside monitoring (12.7%), initiation of nonantimicrobial therapy (12.6%), and antimicrobial therapy initiation and streamlining (10.6%). The total EMPIST was found to significantly correlate with EMP activities, and this correlation was consistent across both “diagnostic/presentation” and “medication” items (P < 0.001 for all comparisons).
Conclusion
The EMPIST significantly correlated with EMP activities, with consistent correlation across all subgroups. Its utilization has the potential to enhance bedside clinical practice and optimize the deployment of limited EMP services. Additional investigations are needed to examine the validity of this tool and identify any relationship it may have to patient outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Weant KA, Acquisto NM, Doyno CR, et al. Development of an emergency medicine pharmacy intensity score tool. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Volume 80, Issue 4, 15 February 2023, Pages 215–221, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/zxac328
Copyright
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, volume 80, issue 4, in 2023 following peer review. This article may not exactly replicate the final published version. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/zxac328.