Effects of Training and Supervision on the Quality of Drug Inventory Management among Sub-district Health Promoting Hospitals in 4 Southern Provinces

Abstract

Objective: To study the effect of training and supervision on the quality of drug inventory management in sub-district health promoting hospitals (SHPHs) in 4 southern provinces. Methods: This research was a randomized controlled trial. The subjects were 63 SHPHs in 4 southern provinces including Satun, Krabi, Pattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat. The subjects were randomly assigned to a control (N=30) and an experimental group (N=33). The interventions in the experimental group included 1) training by pharmacists in good drug inventory management and the implementation of drug control accounts, and 2) 2-3 times of supervision and follow up by pharmacists to help resolve the problems at 16-45 days or 60 days or 90 days or 135 days after the training depending on the agreement within the provinces. The researchers conducted 3 times of assessment of the quality of drug inventory management in 10 domains (with 1 point in each domain, total score of 10) at before the training, after the training for 30 or 60 days or 90 days and after training for 90 or 180 days depending on the agreement within the province. The assessment was done through the observation of drug inventory, interview with personnel of SHPHs, and document review. Results: Before the intervention, the control group and the experimental group had no significant differences in quality scores (P>0.05) (2.84±0.39, N=30 and 3.17±0.38, N=33 from a full score of 10, respectively). Assessment at 30-60 days after the intervention showed that the experimental group (7.74±0.46, N=13) had a statistically significantly higher score than the control group (2.96±0.48, N=12) (P<0.001). At 90 days after the intervention, the experimental group (8.03±0.44, N=33) had a statistically significantly higher score than the control group (3.58±0.47, N=30) (P<0.001). For the third assessment, it was found that the experimental group (8.47±0.64, N=20) had a significantly higher score than the control group (4.89±0.65, N=18) (P<0.001). Conclusion: Problems encountered in drug inventory management can be resolved through training and follow-up supervision with feedback. The relevant parties on the issue could apply this method to resolve the problems.