Factors Associated with Waiting Time at Premium Outpatient Pharmacy Services in Somdech Phra Debaratana Medical Center
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Abstract
Objective: To study the factors related to waiting time at the premium outpatient pharmacy services in Somdech Phra Debaratana Medical Center. Method: This research was a retrospective analytical research. Waiting time was collected from the IBM® cognos® business intelligence (BI) program used to record physicians' prescribing in outpatient system and prescriptions of the premium outpatient pharmacy services in Somdech Phra Debaratana Medical Center of Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital during November 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. Waiting time for prescription filling was presented in three types including that due to process within the pharmacy, that for drug dispensing process, and that for the whole process. Eight factors were studied, including prescribing system, day of the week, the time that pharmacy department received prescription, hospital unit providing care to patients, number of drug shelves used to prepare drugs for prescription, number of drug items in prescription, prescriptions with drugs being short or unavailable in the pharmacy, and prescriptions returned to prescribing physicians for revision. Results: The number of prescriptions in the study was 1,243. Waiting time due to process within the pharmacy, dispensing process, and whole process were 17.65±0.34, 33.78±2.12, and 51.44±2.16 minutes, respectively. Proportion of prescriptions with waiting time being in target time or less than 30 minutes or was 53.10%. Long waiting times were affected by many factors. The largest portion of waiting time was accounted for that in dispensing process. Factors other than process within the pharmacy led to waiting time of the whole process not reaching the target. From the correlation analysis between the factors, it was found that all factors were statistically related to the waiting time (P < 0.05). Six factors influencing waiting time due to process within the pharmacy department included having day of the week, time that prescriptions reaching pharmacy, number of drug shelves used in preparing prescription, number of drug items in prescription, prescriptions with drugs being short or unavailable in the pharmacy, and prescriptions returned to prescribing physicians for revision. The factors with the greatest influence on waiting time due to process within the pharmacy department were prescriptions with drugs being short or unavailable in the pharmacy, followed by prescriptions returned to prescribing physicians for revision. Four factors significantly affecting waiting time for drug dispensing process were day of the week, time interval, time that the prescriptions reaching pharmacy, treatment unit, and number of drug shelves used in preparing prescription. Conclusion: All factors studied were correlated with waiting time. The factors with the greatest influence on waiting time due to process within the pharmacy department were prescriptions with drugs being short or unavailable in the pharmacy and prescriptions returned to prescribing physicians for revision. Therefore, the significant factors identified in the study should be taken into account for improving work process to be more efficient, and reduce waiting time for patients. The information from the study could be used to set target for performance indicators that are consistent with the context of the hospital.
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ผลการวิจัยและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความถือเป็นความคิดเห็นและอยู่ในความรับผิดชอบของผู้นิพนธ์ มิใช่ความเห็นหรือความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการ หรือคณะเภสัชศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ ทั้งนี้ไม่รวมความผิดพลาดอันเกิดจากการพิมพ์ บทความที่ได้รับการเผยแพร่โดยวารสารเภสัชกรรมไทยถือเป็นสิทธิ์ของวารสารฯ
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