Analysis of The Development Results of The Drug Dispensing Service System for Inpatients in The Internal Medicine Department of Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital

Abstract

Background: Inpatient medication dispensing is essential for successful drug system development. It demands multidisciplinary collaboration to reduce medication errors and protect patients.

Objective: To analyze the results of developing an inpatient medication dispensing service system in the internal medicine department and utilize the obtained data for further improvement of the inpatient medication dispensing service system.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on patients from medical wards 3-6, special medical wards 4-5, and MICU 1-2. The study was divided into two periods: pre-intervention from June 2019 to September 2019 and post-intervention from June 2023 to September 2023. Frequency distribution, medication error rates, and percentages were used for statistical analysis.

Results: The number of sub-activities was reduced by 8, resulting in a more concise workflow of 14 sub-activities. The lead time for medication dispensing prior to delivery was significantly reduced from 24 hours to 5.5 hours. Overproduction waste decreased by 54.28%. The error rate for pre-dispensing errors decreased by 66.06%. The error rate for dispensing errors decreased by 56.87%.

Conclusions: This retrospective study indicates that reducing workload and streamlining the medication dispensing system are factors that may contribute to a decrease in both pre-dispensing errors and dispensing errors. Consequently, these improvements are likely to enhance patient safety related to medication use.