Creating development goal indicators – bridging data and outcomes (Americas Region)

Summary of “Creating development goal indicators – bridging data and outcomes” events

FIP member organisations of each region selected some of the FIP Development Goals which are the priorities of their region. Americas region: DG 1 (Academic capacity), DG 3 (Quality assurance), DG 13 (Policy development), and DG 15 (People-centred care).

FIP Global Pharmaceutical Observatory (GPO) team members have designed and developed indicators to support tracking progress towards the development goals.​ This globally validated list of indicators across all DGs will monitor progress worldwide and support each country in the process of transformation of their workforce, education, practice, and pharmaceutical science. FIP is developing a framework for selecting indicators and a monitoring and evaluating DGs.  This will enable the design of global Atlas (data visualisation) dashboards that will drive and inform improvement and monitor trends over time. 

The process for tracking the development goals is first is to select priority DGs by identifying general, broad areas where there are active, ongoing national policies or projects mapped to the FIP DGs. The next step is to select the right indicators. Indicators are useful to provide measurable progress towards DGs, identify areas that need attention and support continuous improvement. After that, a monitoring and evaluation framework can be developed. Lastly, continuous development can be provided by regularly updating Atlas dashboards to present how the data changes over time. Atlas dashboards can include an actionable overview of a limited set of key indicators with novel ways of bringing attention to those areas that are advancing the profession or experiencing challenges. These have significant potential to support regular reviews of DG progress and improve the data quality.

Americas Region Panel Discussion on DG priorities and data requirements

• Progress was highlighted with DG 18 (Access to medicines, devices, and services), DG 19 (Patient safety) and DG 20 (Digital health). For DG 20, there are electronic health records and apps about Coronavirus information. Current needs are not only to generate new data but also to make more data available to public. However, this is limited by the regulatory agency.
• It is difficult to assess only specific DG priority because each of the DGs is often connected to another. For example, DG 15 (People centred care) is linked to DG 8 (Working with others), DG 7 (Advancing integrated services) and DG 11 (Impact and outcomes).
• In the Americas, there is often a lack of data related to the multi-employment of pharmacists. There is also lack of professionals presents in community pharmacy.
• There is a need for data related to pharmacies participation in immunization and occupation and renumeration related to gender.
• To implement strategic plans, we need the data before and after the implementation