Pharmacy Daily | Improving meds management

RESEARCHERS at Monash University and Flinders University have released a new guide on how to establish and lead a quality improvement collaborative (QIC) that supports senior healthcare professionals, managers and leaders across healthcare settings looking to improve medication management practices.

Developed as part of Monash University's Maximising Embedded Pharmacists in AGed CAre Medication Advisory Committees (MEGA-MAC) project, the QIC uses an evidence-based approach to bring healthcare professionals together from different sites to learn, share and implement best practice in a measurable and sustainable way.

"Quality improvement collaboratives go beyond just bringing people together," said Professor Simon Bell from the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety (CMUS) within the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

"They provide a structured way for healthcare teams to implement changes, use data to track their progress, and learn from others on what works in practice," Professor Bell said.

"This helps healthcare teams to move from ideas to measurable improvement," he added.

CMUS senior research fellow Dr Amanda Cross helped develop the guide, titled Improving medication management together: a practical guide to establishing and leading a quality improvement collaborative.

"Our experiences from the MEGA-MAC trial demonstrated the value and potential for quality improvement collaboratives and informed the development of this step-by-step guide," Dr Cross said.

"The MEGA-MAC quality improvement collaborative brought together pharmacists and nurses working across four states of Australia, and was supported by an expert panel of clinicians, implementation scientists and consumer representatives.

"It was an excellent example of how we can share ideas and work together to support implementation of best practice."

To access the guide, click HERE.