Digitalizing the Pharmaceutical Logistics in Healthcare Units:

The Case of a Public Hospital

Rabii Faouzi

Director of Hospitals and Ambulatory Care, Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Morocco

Keywords: Digitalization, Pharmaceutical Logistics in Care Departments, SEGMA Public Hospitals.

Abstract: The Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MHSP), aware of the crucial importance of the pharmaceutical

logistics in healthcare departments in securing the drugs circuit in hospitals, has opted, as part of the health

system modernization program, for the acquisition and installation of new automated and secure stations for

the distribution of medicines and medical devices in the healthcare departments of the SEGMA public

hospitals. For the sake of our analysis, we used the « 5M » method (or Ishikawa diagram) with the aim of: (i)

evaluating the contributing factors capable of ensuring the smooth operation of these stations; (ii)

identifying strengths for optimizing the management of supplies at the department level; and

(iii) proposing appropriate solutions to overcome the critical points necessary for improving the storage and

traceability conditions for medicines and medical devices at the level of healthcare departments. The

results of our study support the arguments in favor of digitizing pharmaceutical logistics in public hospitals,

but also highlight the points that need to be improved in order to make the hospital drug circuit more secure.

1 INTRODUCTION

Optimizing the logistical cycle of a hospital pharmacy

is a major concern when it comes to rationalizing

expenditure. And the pharmaceutical logistics of

healthcare departments constitute a crucial phase in

securing the hospital drug circuit.

To achieve this main objective of improving the

safety of the drugs circuit in public hospitals, the

Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MHSP) has

opted, as part of the program to modernize health

systems, in particular through the construction of new

hospital structures, for the acquisition and installation

of new automated and secure stations for the

distribution of medication and medical devices in

healthcare units of public hospital SEGMA.

The specific objectives set for this study are as

follows: (i) to assess the factors contributing to the

smooth operation of these stations; (ii) to identify

strengths for optimizing the management of supplies

at the level of departments; and (iii) to propose

solutions for overcoming the critical points needed to

improve the storage and traceability conditions for

medicines and medical devices at department level.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The MHSP has equipped the public hospital SEGMA

with five automated and secure stations for the

distribution of medicines and medical devices, which

it has installed in the pilot units identified in

agreement with the hospital's management: central

operating room, intensive care unit, maternity unit,

medicine unit and trauma unit.

Each station consists of the following four

components: a) modular main station with

6 different drawers classified according to their level

of access security (matrices, cubies and mini-

drawers), and equipped with a touch screen,

a keyboard, a printer, a barcode scanner and

a biometric user identification window;

b) two auxiliary cabinets with 7 drawers; c) two

auxiliary cabinets with double glass doors; d) a secure

locking key for the refrigerator fitted with a probe for

continuously recording the temperature inside the

chamber. All five stations are connected to a central

server located in the hospital's biomedical

maintenance office and controlled by a computer in

the hospital's pharmacy department.

For the sake of our analysis, we used the « 5M »

method (or Ishikawa diagram) to assess the potential

Faouzi, R.

Digitalizing the Pharmaceutical Logistics in Healthcare Units: The Case of a Public Hospital.

DOI: 10.5220/0012754400003854

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International e-Health Forum (IeHF 2023), pages 18-20

ISBN: 978-989-758-711-5

causes of problems, in order to propose a method for

resolving them.

3 RESULTS

The analysis of the factors contributing to the smooth

operation of these stations in healthcare departments,

using the « 5M » method, enabled us to identify the

main causes that are holding back the commissioning

and operation of these stations by health

professionals. At the end of this analysis, we were

able to propose concrete solutions to ensure the

operation of these new stations in healthcare

departments.

The results of this analysis are summarized in the

table below.

Table 1.

Dimension

(5M)

Constraints

encountered

Proposed

solutions

Material

-The standard

configuration of the

components of each

station does not take

into account the

management

particularities of

each type of

healthcare

department

-The expiry of the

warranty on the

stations and the

server, as well as the

expiry of the

antivirus and Office

operating licenses,

deactivates certain

system functions

-Redeploy certain

station components

between the

concerned

departments to

ensure their optimal

use

-Schedule the

launch of the

maintenance

contract (EMD

) and

the acquisition of

software licenses

(IMD

)

Milieu

(Environ-

ment)

-The size of the

station is not

adapted to the

surface area of the

department's

"pharmacy" room

-The air

conditioning in the

server room is not

powerful enough to

-Install the

stations in

spacious

premises

equipped with

functional

intranet sockets

(e.g. treatment

room)

-Replace the

existing air

conditioning unit

with a second,

more powerful

ensure continuous

operation of the

central server

-Frequent

interruptions to the

intranet connection

between the central

server and the

stations, via the

intermediate cabinet

on the floors, have a

negative impact on

the optimal

operation of the

stations

-The difficulty of

interfacing between

the central server of

the stations and the

hospital's other soft-

ware (RAS

and

SGMPS-V1) means

that patient

identifiers have to

be transcribed

manually by

healthcare personnel

unit capable of

ensuring

continuous

operation of the

servers

-Invite the

service provider

to reconfigure

the intranet

network

connection and

the wall sockets

between the

central server

and the stations.

-Unsolved

Problem !

Matter

-The dimensions of

certain bulky

medicines and

medical devices

(e.g. massive fluid

vials) are not

adapted to those of

the station's drawers.

-The difficulty of

managing products

delivered in kits to

the stations

-Keep the

management of

these products

outside the

stations pending

the acquisition of

stations with

suitable

configurations

and dimensions

-Include the

composition of

the kits used in

the station

database

Methods

-Loading

(replenishing) the

stations is an extra

workload for

healthcare personnel

-Reinforce the

pharmaceutical

team with a

person who will

be in charge the

logistics of the

floors/

departments.

Manpower

-Lack of ownership

/adherence by the

pharmaceutical and

-Designate a

focal point to

provide ongoing

support for the

Digitalizing the Pharmaceutical Logistics in Healthcare Units: The Case of a Public Hospital

care teams to the use

of the stations

-Reluctance on the

part of some

healthcare personnel

to use biometric

identification

(fingerprint) on the

stations

training of

pharmaceutical

and healthcare

teams

-Opt for access

by digital code

or badge to

ensure that the

healthcare

personnel can

handle the

stations

1-Equipment and Maintenance Directorate

2- IT and Methods Division

3-Reception and Admissions Service

4 DISCUSSION AND

CONCLUSION

Digitizing the pharmaceutical logistics of the

hospital's departments has made it possible to:

(i) secure and rationalize the movement of medicines,

in particular by restricting access to the station to

authorized operators only; (ii) improve stock-keeping

in the departments, in compliance with the storage

conditions recommended by the manufacturers; (iii)

simplify the management of supplies to the

departments, through the adoption of the full-empty

replenishment system by the hospital pharmacy; (iv)

improve the traceability of medicines in the

department, through the systematic recording of all

operations carried out at the station; (v)

ensure continuous and regular monitoring of the

temperature inside the refrigerator to guarantee better

safety and quality of thermolabile medicines in

healthcare departments.

Despite all these strong points in favor of

digitizing the department's pharmacy, much remains

to be done to improve the operation of these

automated and secure stations, in particular through :

a) providing ongoing, regular support for the change

management process for the various professionals

involved (pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, nurses,

doctors, etc.), in order to increase their confidence in

the system ; b) providing healthcare department

managers (senior doctors and senior nurses) with an

interface for steering and monitoring movements on

the department's station, including the possibility of

using these stations to produce dashboards of

nominative consumption; c) freeing up nurses' time

by lightening their workload, by transferring the task

of loading the stations to qualified support staff

authorized by the pharmacy, and by providing

ongoing and regular training for all the department's

healthcare personnel in the safe and easy handling of

the stations; and d) full interoperability with the

hospital information system to ensure better

integration into the patient file.

In conclusion, the digitization of pharmaceutical

logistics in public hospitals represents an essential

opportunity to improve the safety of the hospital drug

circuit. This requires a very detailed study of the

project to ensure the best return on this investment.

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