Making local pharmacies safer and more reliable
Engineering Resilient Community Pharmacies (ENRICH)
This project helps pharmacists and technicians use new tools and teamwork so people with complex chronic conditions can take medicines more safely.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Wisconsin-Madison NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11168677 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient perspective, researchers are partnering with community and health-system pharmacies to redesign how pharmacy teams manage complex medication care. They will co-create a practical "Medication Safety Map" to guide pharmacists and technicians through complicated tasks and improve communication with patients and clinicians. The team will observe real pharmacy work, pilot redesigned workflows, and collect both quantitative data (like medication errors and hospital visits) and qualitative feedback from staff and patients. Pharmacists, engineers, and health services researchers will work with several large systems and independent pharmacies to deliver solutions that can be used in everyday practice.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people with complex chronic conditions who take multiple prescription medications and regularly pick up medicines at participating community pharmacies.
Not a fit: People who obtain all medications by mail-order, have no chronic medication needs, or do not use the participating pharmacies are unlikely to see direct benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could lower medication mistakes and related hospital or emergency visits for people managing multiple chronic conditions.
How similar studies have performed: Some pharmacy-based interventions have reduced medication errors before, but combining Safety-I (learning from mistakes) with Safety-II (learning from what goes right) and resilience engineering in everyday community pharmacies is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
Madison, United States
- University of Wisconsin-Madison — Madison, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chui, Michelle Anne — University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Study coordinator: Chui, Michelle Anne
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.