Authors (including presenting author) :
HUNG WH(1), Wong EYF(1), Cheung EPY(1), Fung PP(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Pharmacy, Caritas Medical Centre
Introduction :
Traceability of drug items is of growing importance due to the increasing awareness on patient and medication safety and stringent dispensing quality and drug inventory controls. In pharmacy operation, it is vital to keep track of drug batch and expiry details, especially for rarely used items like antidotes, to ensure safe use of drugs and also to cope with new service models such as unit-dose dispensing and drug refill service. Currently, the corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system offers batch control in pharmacy sub stores. Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) Pharmacy has developed a Stock Tracking and Management Programme (STAMP) in an attempt to facilitate drug batch and expiry tracking in pharmacy working stores, thus enabling effective frontline stock management.
Objectives :
To develop compact and user-friendly software, complementing the ERP system to facilitate, (i) counterchecking of drug identity during stock replenishment on drug shelves and in the Automatic Medication Unit Dose Dispensing System (AMUDDS); (ii) counterchecking and batch information documentation of ward returns; (iii) monitoring of batch information and expiry dates for drugs on drug shelves and in AMUDDS; and (iv) documentation of workload involved in the drug return process.
Methodology :
The STAMP was designed using Microsoft Access 2007. Batch information such as drug descriptions, Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and working store locations were imported from the corporate ERP system. Stock replenishment was performed using the Drug Filling module which supports counterchecking of drug identity by scanning the GTIN or QR code generated by the Drug Prepacking Programme (DPP). Ward return was processed using the Drug Return module which supports counterchecking of drug identity by scanning the DPP, in-patient or AMUDDS drug label QR codes. Expiry Date Check was performed by generating consolidated reports for short-expiry items previously processed by the Drug Filling and Drug Return modules, which in turn reflected an “up-to-date” expiry status of each items in the working store.
Result & Outcome :
Different modules of STAMP were gradually put into use in CMC Pharmacy from August 2018 onwards, allowing documentation of various pharmacy activities. During the 5-month period, 10504 entries were recorded, with over 97% drug return and an average processing speed of 3 seconds for each transaction. The programme was highly valued by end-users as indicated in a satisfactory survey conducted in December 2018.
Co-location with:
