Key performance indicators for clinical pharmacy services in New Zealand public hospitals: stakeholder perspectives

To identify a set of measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) demonstrating hospital clinical pharmacy's contribution to patient care that can be used for benchmarking in the New Zealand setting. Data sources were key stakeholders from public hospitals in each of the 21 District Health Boards in New Zealand. Surveys with selected KPIs thought to represent clinical pharmacy's contribution to patient care were sent to the Chief Pharmacist, Chief Medical Officer, Director of Nursing, senior management team and Quality and Risk Manager of each District Health Board, who were asked to rate each KPI based on relevance to clinical pharmacy's contribution to patient care and ease of measurement in their organisation. Mailed survey data were ranked and analysed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. The response rate was 43%. The top two ranked KPIs were concerning chart review and medication reconciliation. Only three of 52 KPIs were rated ‘easily’ measurable. No statistically significant differences were seen between professional groups or hospital sizes. The top ranked KPIs reflected the pharmacist's central role in improving the individual patient's medicines use. Measurability appeared to be a major issue due to resource constraints. This study has provided the platform for future nationwide hospital clinical pharmacy KPIs.