Drug Therapy Problem Tracker
Designing a tool for pharmacists to track, manage, and resolve patient care issues.
Overview
CLIENT
OUTPUTS
Research documentation
Figma prototypes
Design system
ROLE
Service Designer/UX Designer
TIMEFRAME
6 months
Context
OSCAR is the open-source electronic medical records system (EMR) used at UBC Pharmacists Clinic, and it was built for physicians. Physicians and pharmacists have very different workflows and as a result, pharmacists at the clinic lacked a dedicated way to record, track, and resolve drug therapy problems (DTPs). DTPs are issues that arise when medication use leads to less-than-optimal patient outcomes.
Objective
Design a pharmacist focused DTP Tracker for OSCAR.
Approach
I began by shadowing three clinicians during appointments to understand how
DTPs were
identified, documented, and followed up during real patient encounters.
Afterwards, I interviewed each clinician to determine:
- workarounds
- errors
- frustration points
- steps in the typical workflow
- missing info/actions
Each clinician developed their own documentation approach,
resulting in highly inconsistent DTP
records across the clinic.
Although DTPs are taught using standardized categories,
real-world
cases vary in form and complexity making them difficult to capture in the existing tracker.
After evaluating OSCAR, we identified two core issues: poor information hierarchy and workflow misalignment. Poor layout, unclear status indicators, and the system not reflecting the realities of clinical documentation made it difficult to prioritize, track, and resolve DTPs over time.
Research Insights
- The DTP categories taught in training do not reflect the complexity and variability of DTPs as they appeared in real patient care.
- The existing DTP Tracker was poorly aligned with clinical workflows and offered limited support for follow-up, continuity, and shared accountability.
- DTP documentation practices varied significantly between clinicians, resulting in inconsistent records across the clinic.
- Inconsistent documentation reduced the usefulness of DTP data for internal KPIs and collaboration with external members of the care team.
Design Principles
- Support consistency while allowing customization. The tracker should enable more consistent documentation while respecting individual clinical judgment and workflows.
- Reflect clinical reality. The tracker must accommodate the variability and nuance of real-world DTPs, rather than forcing clinicians into rigid categories.
- Fit into existing workflows with minimal friction. Any improvement must work within the constraints of a live clinic and the OSCAR EMR, without adding documentation burden.
- Enable continuity and accountability over time. The tool should support follow-up, handoff, and shared understanding amongst care team.
Final Design
Scope and Constraints
The Issue Tracker is currently used internally at the UBC Pharmacists Clinic. This work was completed in a live clinic setting, with existing tools and workflows. The OSCAR EMR imposed technical constraints that shaped what was possible. The final design and research is part of broader, ongoing efforts to expand pharmacist-focused functionality within OSCAR EMR, and continues to inform future development.
