Medication Dispensing Time and Prescription Volume at the Pharmacy Counter

To find the correlation between the work load at the pharmacy counter and efficiency in dispensing the medicines in “Jay Arogyam Hospital, Nestiva, Patna, Bihar” a study was conducted with this title “Medication Dispensing Time and Prescription Volume at the Pharmacy Counter”. The study demonstrated a significant influence of medication volume dispensed on dispensing time and waiting period of the patient in the hospital setting. The results showed that a good proportion of the respondents faced moderate to longer time waiting to collect medicines especially in the morning peak time. The analysis also revealed that overcrowding, high patient volume, lack of staff, manual workflows and inefficiency are significant factors affecting dispensing delays and patient satisfaction. Respondents were also negative about speed and efficiency of the pharmacy; hence, the need to improve the functioning in the pharmacy department. The study found out the connection between the workload of the prescription and efficiency in dispensing work and quality of health services. Thus, effective Pharmacy Workflow Management can significantly alleviate wait times, boost patient satisfaction, and ensure smooth hospital operations. The study suggests that the dispensing performance should be improved by implementing the computerization dispensing system, further suggested to improve the allocation of queuing practices, optimizing it during peak periods and redesigning the workflow process as suggested by the study. These monitoring systems can also play a role in reducing delays and improving patient-driven healthcare services through proper management of the flow of prescriptions and workload distribution. Academically, study findings can be used in the literature pertaining to healthcare management as it concerned with the operations of a hospital, especially in the area of dispensing. While the study was valuable in the identification of challenges related to the workflow of the pharmacy, there were some limitations linked to the study conducted as it involved a single hospital and a limited number of samples. Future studies could thus be expanded in number of respondents, to more health care institutions, with comparison between public and private hospitals, and using automated technologies for dispensing the medications which would help in reducing waiting time at the health care centers.

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