Hospital Pharmacy: Functions and Objectives

• Hospital pharmacy is a crucial department in hospitals.
• Hospital pharmacy handles procurement, storage, compounding, dispensing, packaging, testing, and distribution of drugs.
• Hospital pharmacies are involved in education and research in pharmaceutical services and are managed by qualified pharmacists.

Functions and Objectives of Hospital Pharmacy

• Pharmacy is vital in major hospitals
• Pharmacy is managed by professional pharmacists.
• Pharmaceutical personnel are essential for purchasing, storing, handling, setting prices, and dispensing drugs.
• Pharmacists provide drug information to health professionals and the public.

Major Role of Pharmacists

• Determines specifications for purchasing medications, chemicals, and biologicals.
• Makes and distributes medications like IV fluids, parenteral products, tablets, ointments, and mixtures.
• Dispenses and sterilizes prepared parenteral drugs.
• Dispenses drugs according to medical staff prescriptions.
• Manages drug stores along with proper storage and record maintenance.
• Establishes and maintains a "Drug Information Centre" that provides medication information.
• Provides patient counseling, particularly for outpatients.
• Keeps in contact with medical staff, nurses, and patients.
• Cooperates in teaching and research within the hospital.
• Discards expired medications and containers lacking labels.

Functions of the Hospital Pharmacy

• Evaluating pharmaceutical services that support medical staff and aligning with hospital objectives and policies.
• Planning hospital administration and assigning responsibilities to personnel such as assistant pharmacists, storekeepers, and nursing staff.
• Creating a connection with administrative bodies and physicians who prescribe medications.
• Assessing departmental needs and ensuring proper recruitment policies are in place.
• Creating and maintaining effective clinical and administrative records and reports.
• Participate in the hospital's financial planning.
• Assessing facility, supply, and equipment needs; ensuring inventory, drug dispensing, and manufacturing control.
• Conducting research to improve patient care and other hospital services.
• Supporting hospital safety programs.
• Hosting educational programs, including student experiences.

Objectives of Hospital Pharmacy

• Ensuring timely availability of the right medication and dose at minimal cost.
• To professionalize pharmaceutical services in hospitals.
• Serves as medical staff, nurses, and patients counseling department.
• Provides details on drug utilization.
• Participates in research
• Enacts pharmacy and therapeutics committee decisions.
• Works with other departments in hospitals.
• Organizing all pharmacy policy and practices.

Personnel Requirements

• There are no set rules for staffing inpatient pharmacies.
• Hospital staff size depends of workload, prescription volume, and available beds.
• Minimum recommendation is 3 pharmacists in smaller hospitals, scaling up with more beds.
• Pharmacists hired should be qualified with sufficient experience.
• Manufacturing medications requires additional technicians, assistants, peons.

Requirements for a Hospital Pharmacist

• Possess a postgraduate degree in pharmaceutics, pharmacology, or hospital pharmacy.
• Coordinates pharmacy and non-pharmacy staff.
• Reports to administrator and communicates with other departments.

Required Abilities for a Hospital Pharmacy

• Knowledge of basic sciences like pharmacology and toxicology
• Providing info on how to handle drugs
• Must have confidence of medical staff.
• Able of manufacturing within a hospital setting that requires supply, equipment control, and raw material cost.
• Administrative capabilities must be able to plan and organize the pharmacy.
• Being able to create the best policies to get the job done while maintaining legal documents
• Responsible for interviewing and evaluating staff members.
• Must be able to check quality of drugs and collaborate with suppliers.
• Maintaining information of journals for researches.
• Giving advice on new methods
• A pharmacist should be able to act as teaching program and train new individuals and staff especially nurses.

Material Management

• Management involves planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling.
• Hospitals require a complex organization which requires emphasis on materials in a pharmacy.
• Financial, and resource management are aspects to consider
• Scientific way that is concerned with planning.

Goals of Financial Management

• Right material in right quantities at the right time and price from best source for the lowest cost.

Objectives of Material Management

• Developing supply systems to avoid overstocking while ensuring traceability.
• Ensuring effective resource use and purchasing drugs at the best price.

Procedures

• Assessing categories to get the right stock.
• Procure items with the best quality and prices.
• Check delivered items for the right inventory
• Storing items properly to prepare for damage and deterioration.
• Control inventory well.
• Distribution system is effective

Store Management

• Handling, storing and issuing of materials
• Hospital materials require big investments.
• accuracy, preservation and safety of materials at all stages of store management .

Functions

• Store is responsible for receiving and checking and inspecting
• Storage properly and to avoid issues of damage
• Issuing the material and keep requisition updated.

Inventory control

• Keep the right amount of each stock
• Ensure materials are when needed
• Scientific controls give the best balance
• Provide maximum service with maximum efficiency for supplies

Management of Finance

• Process of planning and monitoring financial and organizational goals.
• Combinations of traditional managements of personal and drug supply cost.
• Deciding on the less optimal and more sufficient therapeutic.
• Managers are responsible for organizing so its best to employed meet their goals.
• Managers face such decisions what inventory size should be, the best supply source, how will price be set, which plan will patient use etc.

Goals of Financing Management

• Financial goal is increasing value and efficient use of resources
• Pharmacies needs to make the most of cash and minimum inventory if needed.

Accounting and Financial Management

• Requires knowing workings and techniques
• Helps with the decisions
• Helps identify items such as debts and cash etc.
• Assess implications and financial statuses with the information such as balance sheet, and statements.

Limitations of Financial Management

• Managers can asses with the tool but limit the course action to its correct value or the original goal.

Basic Mission

• Is that a hospital must provide services for its patients.

Role in dispensing/supplying of drugs

• One the most essential roles to prevent after and after with is verified. Maintenance of documentation.

Rules for dispensing drugs.

• Prescription being checked and right validation
• Checking if drug includes the correct route and appropriate dose
• Verifying if treatment is correct
• If prescription is compatible
• Adverse reactions and contradictions
• Inappropriate prescription uses and medical supplies.

Promotion of drugs

• Pharmacist should be involved in preparation of formularies
• Critical assessment of companies that the drug is made from

Counseling

• Registered information with elements of description and uses
• Information about side effects and contraindications

Health promotion

• Pharmacist must be involved with campaigns and topics on health that relate to the profession.
• Help improve medication.
• Helps improve the knowledge and education.

Pharmacist Role in Managing Pharmacy Store

• The management includes what drugs were purchased and medicine
• Supply and provide for what product or articles are needed.

Patient Care Areas

• Maintaining with nurses involved to know about drug coordination.
• Coordinating with patient care areas and keeping drug administrations.