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SOFTWARE TOOL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF HOSPITAL PHARMACISTS IN MEDICINES’ SHORTAGES MANAGEMENT (submitted in 2019)

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European Statement

Introductory Statements and Governance

Author(s)

Eleni Rinaki, Marinos Petrongonas, Maria Fragiadaki, Leonidas Tzimis

Why was it done?

MSs are a frequent problem in our hospital. In a study carried out in 2018, we investigated reported shortages during one year and found that 56% of cases of unsatisfied wards’ requests were due to failure of pharmacy’s procedures to restore availability. In 70% of these cases, time to re-stock was more than 4 days and strong involvement of HPs in following up and taking measures was required. The purpose of this tool is to bring together all relevant information of shortages, aiming to improve hospital pharmacy’s response as well as following-up MSs for further investigation or research.

What was done?

A new software module in Hospital Information System (HIS) for monitoring medicines’ shortages (MSs) was conceived by hospital pharmacists (HPs), and it was designed, developed and integrated to the ICT system. This module helps HPs easily track which medicines were totally or partially substituted due to insufficient quantities and gives additional information (such as residual quantity of a medicine on prescription date, on inspection date, pending orders, known shortage) needed for managing MSs. In this tool, MSs and relevant information, such as causes, measures to re-stock and shortage’s impact, can be entered, centrally managed and regularly reported.

How was it done?

Implementation of the module in ICT system was made at zero cost by the ICT service provider, following technical specifications designed by HPs. The final product was multi-checked by HPs during development and all technical problems have been resolved accordingly.

What has been achieved?

• Quick intervention of HPs to restore medicines availability is feasible. • We can now have precise and easier follow up, with less human resources required. • MSs are collected, registered and easily utilised to draw conclusions. • HPs’ interventions to deal with MSs are easier to evaluate

What next?

ICT tools’ development is very important in facilitating hospital pharmacy’s practice, especially when human recourses are restricted. These software modules can be easily incorporated in every HIS. Pharmacists are competent and should have a central role in designing such tools. We are planning to evaluate our new MSs management procedure; in the long run, incorporating in this tool a risk assessment algorithm will be an asset.

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