UNE pharmacy students partner with Apothecary By Design for independent service project

Students in the Health Care Quality and Safety in Pharmacy Practice course have completed the final phase of their independent study: creating an updated patient satisfaction survey for Apothecary By Design (ABD). Led by faculty advisor Leslie Ochs, Pharm.D., Ph.D., MSPH, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, Class of ’19 pharmacy students A.J. Golash, Huong Nhan and Sara Stafford gained an in-depth understanding of the importance of healthcare quality and safety in pharmacy practice.

Working with a team of ABD healthcare professionals, Golash, Nhan and Stafford formulated a plan to update the pharmacy’s patient satisfaction survey. The students researched literature to determine appropriate survey response scales and questions, as well as healthcare industry standards for patient satisfaction surveys and ways to improve response rates. They also worked to incorporate the Net Promoter Score, a cross-industry standard, into the updated survey.

Once approved, the survey was mailed to over 6,000 ABD patients. The pharmacy will now be implementing this updated version as a way to gauge patient satisfaction and improve quality of care.

Members of the ABD project team included Kirsten Burell, Pharm.D., clinical pharmacist; Cidnee Carrigan, Pharm.D., PGY1 pharmacy resident; Kyra Chamberlin, M.S., RN, vice president of Clinical Operations; Khaly Huynh, CPhT, data analyst and Cherie Wiley, director of Quality Management.

To learn more about the University of New England’s College of Pharmacy, visit www.une.edu/pharmacy

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions