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Article-4:Identifying delays in medication dispense practice in Hospital In-patient departments

Abstract
 
Key words: Medication dispense, Turn-around time, Inpatient pharmacy
 
Objective:
To understand the basic functioning of the pharmacy department in the hospital and identify the reasons of delay.
 
Method: 
An observational study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital of Rajasthan, India for a period of 20 days. A total of 300 medicine indents from a general ward (75), a critical ward (75) and inpatient pharmacy (IP pharmacy) (150) were observed. A dispense tracking sheet was prepared separately for wards and pharmacy for noting the turn-around time (TAT) starting from indent time to the time of receiving of items. At each step, the delays were observed and reasons behind them were found out. 
 
Results
The average time taken from indenting till receiving of items (medicines & consumables) in general ward and critical ward was found to be 2 hours 32 min. and 1 hour 42 min. respectively. In both the cases, the TAT was found to be more as compared to the hospital standard of 2 hours for general ward and 1 hour for critical ward. The main reasons of delay were identified to be sudden rush of indents in pharmacy at a particular time and delay in registration of indents through hospital software.
 
Conclusion
Medication dispensing process is a crucial interlinked process. It requires coordination and cooperation among all the involved departments. To maintain an effective medication dispense process, strict monitoring of each step is required. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Journal file
Artcile-4.pdf (586.75 KB)