Last Updated on 08 Jul 2024

Indicators for medicine management in hospitals under office of the permanent secretary, Ministry of Public Heath.

Abstract

Background: Management of the medicines is one of several tasks within the scope of hospital pharmacy, requiring comprehensive knowledge and technical skill of pharmacists. Furthermore, the task needs to abide by general procurement law and regulations. Since 1999, the Office of the Permanent Secretary (OPS), Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has maintained its objective to continuously improve system efficiency. However, over the past decade, the vast dynamicity of health systems and changes in relevant laws and regulations, have necessitated revisiting indicators for medicine management.

Objectives: This study aims to propose a set of appropriate indicators for medicine management in MOPH-OPS hospitals in response to the updated laws and MOPH policies.

Methods: The study employed applied qualitative approaches in four key steps: establishing a conceptual framework, conducting a comprehensive review of international and domestic literature, selecting indicators across four dimensions (quality, time, finance/cost and productivity) based on the findings from the literature review and refining and validating these indicators in a consultative meeting with eighteen experienced pharmacists. Proposed selection criteria were agreed on and considered in sequential selection in concomitant with the feasibility of data collection.

Results: Sixteen indicators were selected by both the research team and stakeholders. These comprised two indicators in the medicine selection step, four in forecasting, three in procurement, six in storage and one in distribution. Across the four dimensions ten indicators pertained to quality, two to time, nine to finance/cost and six to productivity. In addition, eight indicators were intended to serve the policies.

Conclusion: This research identified sixteen indicators for medicine management in hospitals, serving for supervision and monitoring of work as well as responding to the policies.

IHPP Code
DMJ407
Type
Domestic Journal
Year
2024
Journal
Thai Journal of Clinical Pharmacy 2024;30:84-98.
Author
Srisuphan V , Akaleephan C , Saengsri W
Correspondence
Srisuphan V.