A well functioning
medicines management system is vital in assuring an uninterrupted supply of medicines that are efficacious and of good
quality, physically and financially accessible and used rationally. In an era of evidence-based medicine and policy, high-quality
research evidence is essential for the development of effective pharmacist-led
services and hospital policies. Inefficient and irrational use of medicines is a
widespread problem at all levels of health care throughout India. Lack of
discretely documented policies and procedures in respect of medicines
management in a hospital is unnecessarily straining the already meagre
resources resulting into poor inflow of benefits to the patients. Per capita
wastage from inefficiencies and irrational use tends to be greatest in
hospitals. Many of these sources of wastage could be reduced if some simple principles
of drug management and use are followed and a proper drug management policy is
developed.
Development of
medicine management indicators is important for reliably assessing the
components of good pharmacy practices (GPP), including quality of care. Hence,
there is a need to develop, adopt and enforce minimum standards for GPP as well
as the means to assess pharmacy practice in hospital settings. In the light of
the above, an attempt is made to develop a standard indicator tool which can be
used to carry out an in-depth assessment
of the system
and will help in providing
information for targeted
interventions in strengthening the system and current practices. The tool
comprises of a set of structural, process and outcome indicators covering five
essential components; selection, quantification, procurement, storage and
dispensing. These indicators would be further developed refined and validated
through Delphi technique and later used for developing the medicine management
policy frame work. This would help our tertiary care hospitals make the best use of its
available resources for making quality medicines available and affordable to
its patients throughout the year without any stock-outs.
Key Words: Indicator, Selection Quantification, Procurement, Storage, Dispensing, Delphi technique
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