Optimising workflow processes in an advanced medication dispensary

The workload measurement of an inpatient hospital dispensary is critical to improve efficiency in the face of limited budgets. This single-centre pilot study used work sampling to observe and identify areas to improve efficiency of dispensing prescribed medications at one tertiary level acute care teaching hospital. Workload sampling was conducted at a 1096-bed hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The dispensary services the entire hospital, 24 h per day, seven days per week. Pharmacists are solely involved in clinical screening. The hospital uses a tech-check-tech practice. The observer was a registered pharmacist who collected data in the dispensary over two-hour blocks during November 14-24, 2017. A pre-made data collection sheet was used to record observations. Pharmacists duplicated tasks performed by dispensary technicians, such as ensuring STAT orders were delivered or identifying floor stock medications. Assistants inconsistently organised orders for filling. The assistant delivering STAT medications was difficult to find. Not all STAT medications were delivered first on a scheduled delivery route. Overall, areas for improvement in the dispensary process may include reinforcing the pharmacist clinical duties, establishing clinical competency baseline, supporting the full scope of practice of registered technicians, and consistent training of assistants, and clarifying communication processes.