Improving performance of a pharmacy in a Romanian hospital through implementation of an internal management control...

According to general principles of good practice, adopted at the international level, quality control is a key function in management and not just a simple means of verification. In a clinic or hospital pharmacy, the chief pharmacist has the training and authority to take the control measures necessary to develop and implement an Internal Managerial Control System (IMCS). The present article analyzes and describes the case of the County Hospital of Oradea, Romania, and presents how the IMCS was adopted and integrated. Quality assessment in the health services takes place via an accreditation process and quality certification, as well as through an internal audit of the hospital pharmacy. The authors report a retrospective and descriptive study carried out from 2012 to 2017, analyzing how current legislative standards are applied. The IMCS in the hospital pharmacy is a dynamic process of continuous transformation, permanently adapted to hospital requirements, achieved under the direction of the chief pharmacist and involving all pharmacy employees, as well as through good coordination practices applied by hospital management. In this specific case, the IMCS features 11 annually updated compliance standards, classed under the headings of work procedures, risk register, job descriptions and staff training. The pharmacy's good practice model for IMCS development, was adopted by all of the hospital's sectors, services and departments.