Reduction of phone interruptions post implementation of a central call center in community pharmacies of an academic health system.

Purpose: A pharmacy services call center (PSCC) was implemented to centralize pharmacy phone calls and reduce interruptions of dispensing activities in 7 community pharmacies of an academic health center. An evaluation was conducted to define, quantify, and compare the numbers and types of phone interruptions before and 3 months after PSCC implementation.

Methods: Through structured, direct observation of pharmacy staff, the numbers and types of "breaks in task" (BIT) due to phone interruptions and other distractions were identified. A standardized data collection tool formatted on tablet computers was used by trained observers to document BIT for 3-hour time blocks on 5 consecutive business days (2 days of pharmacist observation and 3 days of technician observation, for a total of 10 observation days per pharmacy).

Results: Over 5,000 prescriptions were processed during 414 hours of observation (13.3 prescriptions per observation hour). Overall, BIT due to phone interruptions totaled 2.2 BIT per observation hour, with those interruptions reduced by 46.4% overall after PSCC implementation (by 30.0% in 4 small pharmacies and by 57.5% in 3 large pharmacies). Technicians were more likely than pharmacists to be interrupted by phone vs nonphone BIT (eg, distraction by another technician, pharmacist, or patient). Comparison of phone vs nonphone BIT suggested an overall 46.0% reduction in phone BIT in all pharmacies (reductions of 42.4% and 45.0% in large and small pharmacies, respectively).

Conclusion: PSCC implementation noticeably decreased the amount of phone interruptions and distractions for employees.