Healthcare metrics: Where do pharmacists add value?

National healthcare policy is affecting the way health systems provide care by mandating accountability through standardized performance measures and incentives for improvement. Health systems are responding by adopting management systems—in many cases, systems from other industries—to measure process and patient outcomes. Studying value streams to improve daily management systems and goal attainment is now becoming more common with increased efforts to measure and improve complex healthcare delivery systems. Many healthcare systems are focused on service improvement models to train and engage both employees and patients and to implement the changes needed to improve our healthcare system. These newly embedded “integrated practices” are designed to improve quality, safety, and value. As changes occur in healthcare, the missions and goals of healthcare systems are shifting. In fact, changes are occurring so rapidly that many systems may have difficulty articulating and achieving health-system goals effectively. However, there is no lack of suggested performance measures and metrics from many sources.