Advancing Medication Safety and Quality: Training and Certification Opportunities for Pharmacy Professionals

Introduction

As healthcare systems continue to prioritize safety, quality, and value-based care, pharmacy professionals are uniquely positioned to lead transformative change. Formal training and certification in medication safety, quality improvement, and data analytics not only strengthen individual expertise but also empower practitioners to design, implement, and sustain initiatives that directly enhance patient care.

For pharmacists and pharmacy technicians dedicated to advancing practice standards, this article outlines key educational opportunities designed to provide pharmacy professionals with the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed to lead quality improvement and medication safety initiatives while advancing pharmacy practice.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) offers three programs in the areas of Quality, Data Analytics, and Medication Safety: Quality Improvement for Pharmacy Professionals Certificate, Basics of Data Analytics Certificate, and Medication Safety Certificate.

Quality Improvement for Pharmacy Professionals Certificate

This program is designed for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians looking for opportunities to advance their knowledge and skills in healthcare quality improvement. It consists of 11 modules with a focus on quality in the United States Healthcare System and offers education in the following areas:

• Quality improvement methodologies and measures
• Pharmacy quality metrics
• Training in utilizing data to drive improvements in healthcare and patient care outcomes

Following program completion, participants will gain expertise and skills needed to develop and implement pharmacy quality improvement programs at their institutions to improve either operational or clinical pharmacy services and practice.

• CE credits: 23 hours
• Cost: $460 (ASHP members); $560 (nonmembers)

For more information, go toQuality Improvement for Pharmacy Professionals Certificate.

Basics of Data Analytics Certificate

The growing use of big data has the potential to reshape healthcare by shifting the system from a traditional fee-for-service model to a value-based care framework. While this transformation offers significant opportunities, it also presents a range of operational, technical, and strategic challenges. The Basics of Data Analytics Certificate is designed to address these challenges by providing foundational education in key data analytics concepts and practical tools, including novel artificial intelligence, used in healthcare settings.

The program offers a hands-on data analysis project, allowing participants to apply newly developed skills in a real-world context.

• CE Credits: 16.25 hours
• Cost: $460 (ASHP pharmacist members); $360 (ASHP technician members); $560 (nonmembers)

For more information, go to Basics of Data Analytics Certificate.

Medication Safety Certificate

The Medication Safety Certificate features a comprehensive curriculum designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to lead and actively contribute to medication safety improvement efforts. The program addresses the following core medication safety principles:

• Stages of the medication use process
• Foundations of a medication safety culture including principles of high reliability organizations, learning health systems, and just culture
• Medication safety leadership
• Applying quality improvement methodologies to medication safety projects
• Human factors engineering
• System-based causes of medication errors
• Proactive and reactive identification of medication safety risks
• Risk reduction strategies
• Medication safety technology
• Investigating and analyzing medication errors
• Disclosure of medication errors and supporting second victims
• Planning and implementing medication safety initiatives

In addition to offering regular continuing education credits, this program meets the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS) criteria for CPPS continuing education credit hours.

• CE Credits: 26.5 contact hours
• Cost: $460 (ASHP pharmacist members); $360 (ASHP technician members); $560 (nonmembers)

For more information, go to Medication Safety Certificate.

For all of the above programs, upon completion of the educational curriculum, learners are eligible to take the online examination toward a professional certificate in each respective program area. A minimum score of 80% is required to pass. Participants may take the exam an unlimited number of times.

In addition to Medication Safety Certificate Program offered by ASHP, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS) offers the Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) certification. This program aids in building professional proficiency and expertise in the core standards of patient safety. Core domains of the training program include:

• Safety culture
• System thinking
• Human factors engineering and design
• Safety risks and responses
• Performance measurement, analysis, improvement and monitoring

To accommodate participants’ busy schedules and their preferences, this program is offered in various formats:

• Live webinars
• In person
• On demand review course.

Program offers CPPS Scholarship to provide financial support to purchase online review course, and to cover examination fees.

• CE credits: 7 contact hours
• Cost: $449; examination fee of $549

For more information, go to Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) TM | Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Quality Training Program (QTP)

For oncology-focused professionals, ASCO’s Quality Training Program (QTP) is a six-month immersive experience designed to prepare practitioners to champion quality improvement initiatives in oncology practice. As part of training, participants form interdisciplinary teams (2-4 members) from their institutions to work on a real-world quality challenge identified within their practice. Each team receives guidance from an assigned ASCO quality improvement coach. The program includes:

• Three in-person learning sessions at ASCO headquarters
• Monthly virtual coaching calls
• Webinars and ongoing support

Courses are typically offered twice annually (January-June and July-December). For more information, go to Quality Training Program - ASCO and Quality Training Program FAQs - ASCO. ASCO also offers a One-Day Quality Training Program Workshop, with an introduction to oncology quality improvement principles through lectures and case-based discussions.

For more information, go to ASCO One-Day Quality Training Program Workshops funded by Susan G. Komen® - ASCO.

Interested individuals can apply to either program directly via ASCO website or through HOPA offering thanks to its partnership with ASCO to bring the Quality Training Programs to HOPA members. Since 2019, HOPA and ASCO QTP have put on six one-day workshops for HOPA members, with the most recent workshop being offered in September 2025. These workshops are intended to provide pharmacy practitioners with the baseline knowledge needed to get involved in quality improvement work at their institutions. Didactic presentations are combined with small group activities to give attendees a hands-on learning experience, covering topics from developing a problem statement to data analysis and publishing results.

In 2022, HOPA partnered with ASCO QTP to bring the first thematic 6-Month Training Program to its members. For this 6-Month Program, HOPA sponsored ten pharmacist-led, multi-disciplinary teams from around the country in their efforts to complete a quality improvement project from start to finish. While each team selected a project to address a specific problem at their individual institutions, they all worked on projects related to oral chemotherapy, helping to elevate the shared learning process that is quintessential to the QTP. After the success of this first program, the HOPA Board of Directors expanded the ongoing partnership with ASCO by offering a second 6-Month Program for HOPA members in 2026, focusing on the theme of precision oncology. Ten new teams from community sites and academic medical centers kicked off their work following HOPA's Annual Conference in New Orleans and will continue to work on their individual QI projects through the remainder of the year.

For more information on quality training programs for pharmacy professionals, please refer to HOPA Quality Oversight Committee (QOC) website.