How productive are you?

Abstract

the overall effi ciency and fi nancial health of the hospital, and for some, this could be a cause for insomnia. Productivity is a measure of the ratio of outputs to inputs. In a healthsystem pharmacy, productivity is a much more complex metric. For many years, the metric was how many prescriptions (or orders) were processed. Today, the metric should fully capture all of the facets of the pharmacy, including distributive, clinical, administrative, and educational activities. On top of that, each one of those headings has additional facets. Productivity can be measured in a variety of ways, but it is important that the measures refl ect what actually happens within the department. For example, if pharmacists perform all of the patient and family education about anticoagulant therapy, then that activity should be counted in a pharmacy productivity measure. It is important to know the average time that is spent providing that education. Conversely, you would not want to include a productivity measure about fi lling outpatient prescriptions if that task does not occur within your facility. Productivity is most often used to make sure that staffi ng of a department is appropriate. At times some managers and directors may feel that reviewing productivity measures is punitive. In actuality, productivity can be a director’s friend because it can show the efHow productive are you?