Improving medication safety and efficiency in hospital pharmacy through a pharmacist-led, low-code mobile...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Pharmacy Management
• Software Development in Healthcare

Background:

• Traditional hospital pharmacy inventory management is inefficient and prone to errors, impacting patient safety.
• Low-code platforms offer potential for clinical software development, but require rigorous evaluation.
• Assessing the impact of a pharmacist-designed, low-code mobile application on pharmacy operations is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led, low-code mobile inventory application on operational efficiency, accuracy, and labor allocation in a hospital pharmacy setting.
• To determine the effectiveness of a novel approach to inventory management using agile development principles.
• To assess the potential for scalability and cost-effectiveness of this digital health solution.

Main Methods:

• A prospective observational study was conducted over 12 months in a large tertiary hospital.
• Pharmacists utilized a low-code platform to develop and refine a mobile inventory application through agile sprints.
• Key performance indicators included inventory cycle time, error rates, stock variance, and labor allocation, analyzed using statistical comparisons and simulation.

Main Results:

• Average weekly inventory cycle time decreased by 60.3% (p < 0.001).
• Inventory error rates dropped by 75.9% (p < 0.001), with stock variance also significantly reduced.
• Manual task time decreased by 67.4%, reallocating substantial pharmacist hours to clinical activities.

Conclusions:

• The pharmacist-led, low-code model significantly enhanced pharmacy inventory management efficiency and accuracy.
• This approach facilitates healthcare digitization by leveraging domain expertise for scalable, cost-effective solutions.
• The study demonstrates a successful framework for improving operational workflows and clinical time in hospital pharmacies.