An online education package for pharmacists delivering a home medication review service to patients following acute coronary syndromes

Abstract

Rationale, aims and objectives: To develop and evaluate a person-centered online education package to facilitate the delivery of a Home Medicines Review system following acute coronary syndromes (ACS).Methods: An education package of 5 online lectures, an assessment quiz and an evaluation questionnaire was developed to increase the skills and capacity of pharmacists. Course material was generated from a targeted appraisal of literature and reviewed by expert pharmacists. Kirkpatrick’s 4-level model for evaluating training programs was applied as an international standard for measuring the quality of the material developed. The evaluation questionnaire measured the dimension of reactions to the material and the assessment quiz measured the dimension of learning.Results: From a pool of 91 accredited pharmacists, 36 registered an interest in the education package and completed the online enrolment. Of those who enrolled, 27 completed the package. Twenty-two pharmacists passed the quiz on their first attempt and 3 passed on their second attempt. Analysis of the evaluation questionnaire consistently showed pharmacists’ reactions to the material were positive.Conclusion: In Australia, Home Medicines Reviews are endorsed by policy and reimbursed. Providing resources to increase the knowledge and confidence of pharmacists will potentially improve their ability to address specific issues with adherence and medication use following ACS.