A Research on the Use of Automatic Drug Distribution System in Hospitals

Ensuring patient safety in hospitals has become one of the priority issues worldwide. Drug errors are the most important factor that threatens patient safety in hospitals. Research shows that most of the factors that cause drug errors are related to drug management process. The reason for the need for drug management systems in hospitals is to prevent drug errors and wastes that threaten patient safety, to increase efficiency in drug management and to provide cost savings. An automated drug delivery system in hospitals is a tool to effectively manage all the processes between the original prescription of a drug and the delivery of that drug to the patient. In addition, this system has been developed for narcotic drugs most exposed to disappearance and theft. The aim of this study is to determine the positive and negative aspects of the use of automatic drug delivery system in hospitals. The research was conducted with qualitative research technique. Data were collected by interview method. Interviews were conducted with hospital managers, drug management system manufacturer representatives, pharmacists, nurses, purchasing and operation managers. In the study, four main themes were identified as strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the use of automatic drug delivery system. According to the results of the research, the most powerful aspects of the sub-themes of drug management system use are; ensuring patient safety, reducing drug errors, drug waste and labor costs; the weakest aspect is the high investment cost. In the sub-theme of opportunities provided by the drug management system to hospitals; while globalization, growth, efficient and efficient use of resources, threat sub-themes have been identified as high waiting time in hospitals with low automation system infrastructure, difficulty in adapting to end-users and loss of time during drug loading to the system. As a result, drug errors are common in hospitals and are one of the most important threats to the health of patients. Drug management systems integrated with the hospital information system should be utilized in order to minimize drug errors, save costs, increase productivity and save labor force. However, since automatic drug delivery systems are highly costly health technologies, purchasing costs of this technology should be reduced by making domestic production.