Key words: Medication dispense, Turn-around time, Inpatient pharmacy

 

To understand the basic functioning of the pharmacy department in the hospital and identify the reasons of delay.

 

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.