An EHR-based method to structure, standardize, and automate clinical documentation tasks for pharmacists to generate extractable outcomes

JAMIA Open. 2023 May 11;6(2):ooad034. doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooad034. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Abstract

As the recognition of team-based care grows and pharmacists increase in patient care interventions, it is important that tools to track clinical services are easily accessible and well-integrated into workflow for all providers. We describe and discuss feasibility and implementation of data tools in an electronic health record to evaluate a pragmatic clinical pharmacy intervention focused on deprescribing in aged adults delivered at multiple clinical sites in a large academic health system. Of the data tools utilized, we were able to demonstrate clear documentation frequency of certain phrases during the intervention period for 574 patients receiving opioids and 537 patients receiving benzodiazepines. Although clinical decision support and documentation tools exist, they are underutilized or cumbersome to integrate into primary health care and strategies, such as employed, are a solution. This communication incorporates the importance of clinical pharmacy information systems in research design.

Keywords: aged; clinical pharmacy information systems; deprescriptions; electronic health records; primary health care; research design.