Operations analysis applied to a drug distribution system.
The application of operations analysis to a hospital drug distribution system is discussed. The existing system in a 360-bed community hospital was reviewed to identify areas for improvement; alternate approaches to achieve the identified benefits were explored. Improved manual procedures, which integrated pharmacy and nursing operations to a greater extent and resulted in fewer lost charges, were developed. Potential savings through computerization of 10 functions were identified. A rating system was developed to evaluate eight vendors of computerized pharmacy systems. The hospital as a whole undertook the following steps designed to assure the success of new systems: (1) determine the overall hospital benefits desired in order to prevent fragmentation by individual efforts; (2) establish a planning process; (3) establish a process for reviewing projects; (4) develop a plan for systems improvement; and (5) monitor the performance of the systems improvement program. The steps for successful operations analysis are summarized.