The Educating Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists to Improve Quality program: tool for pharmacy practice.

Objective: To describe (1) the importance of understanding quality measurement and improvement and (2) the development and potential uses of the Educating Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists to Improve Quality (EPIQ) program.

Practice Description: The EPIQ program is applicable to all pharmacy practice settings.

Practice Innovation: EPIQ was developed as a quality improvement education resource, for use by pharmacy faculty and other professionals, to teach student pharmacists, pharmacists, and other stakeholders about measuring, reporting, and improving quality in pharmacy practice.

Results: The EPIQ program contains 17 sessions that have been packaged in five modules addressing (1) the status of quality improvement and reporting in the U.S. health care system, (2) quality improvement concepts, (3) quality measurement, (4) quality-based interventions and incentives, and (5) application of quality improvement to the pharmacy practice setting. Each standalone module can be used in a variety of orders and are not sequential in nature. Individual pharmacists may choose one or more modules to meet individual continuing education (CE) requirements, and employers (pharmacists) may mix and match modules to develop employee training programs. Pharmacy associations and other CE providers have also used the modules to develop live CE and certificate programs. A sample of the EPIQ program and how it can be used by pharmacists is provided in this article.

Conclusion: Gauging the current state of pharmacy quality or the extent to which intended improvements have an impact is not possible unless quality is measured. Tools for quality measurement from the EPIQ program can be used to improve pharmacist understanding of quality measurement and reporting, to interpret quality reports, and ultimately to make changes that can improve quality in pharmacy practice. Pharmacists are encouraged to use the tool described in the current work to interpret quality reports.