Objectives: Per the ACPE 2016 Standards, schools must prepare students to effectively provide patient-centered care as part of a healthcare team using the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process (PPCP). Thus, the objective was to examine the effects of written versus educational electronic health record (EHR) cases on student performance and confidence related to the PPCP through the formulation of patient care plans. Method: After completing patient care plan assignments from written and EHR cases during a capstone course, third-year professional pharmacy students completed the Student Perceptions of Utilizing an Educational EHR Survey (27 items, 7-point Likert-type scale). Patient care plans were graded using a standard rubric mapped to the PPCP for assessment. Data were analyzed in SPSS using Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests as appropriate. Results: Of the 26 student respondents (79% response rate), most (69.2%) agreed that the EHR prepared them more effectively for practice. Students agreed or strongly agreed that the EHR cases were effective for all PPCP components and felt that EHR cases were more effective than written cases for practicing the “collect” component (p=0.034). Overall student grades on plans were higher for cases utilizing the EHR (pImplications: Utilizing an EHR to create patient care plans may better prepare students for practice, especially by enhancing competence in the ability to collect information as part of the PPCP. EHR-based patient care plans may also be a useful method for assessing student performance in various components of the PPCP.

Read More: https://www.ajpe.org/doi/full/10.5688/ajpe7158