Innovative Technology and New Workflows Boost Heart Hospital's Pharmacy

Doha, June 13 (QNA) - The introduction of innovative technology, new workflows, building capacities of staff and rewarding them have made the process of providing healthcare services more efficient and reduced patient waiting period to less than 15 minutes, senior officials from the Heart Hospital (HH) Pharmacy Department of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) said. The Director of the National Center for Cancer Care & Research (NCCCR) and HH, Manal Zaidan, in a presentation made at an event held at the HMC Club House Tuesday to celebrate HH Pharmacy's achievements and anniversary, highlighted the Pharmacy Department's new initiatives and projects that have significantly increased the efficiency and quality of healthcare service over the last one year. "We have implement eight projects and replaced the traditional pharmacy workflow with HH pharmacy workflows which has streamlined and made the process of clinical pharmacy interventions more efficient," Zaidan told Qatar News Agency (QNA). In her presentation she outlined the pharmacy's Strategic Plan (2009 - 2014) and listed the key new initiative of introducing Automated Dispensing Cabinets (ADCs), HH Workflow, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Automated Repacking Machines, Medication Safety, Human Resources, Research, Risk Management and Orientation Programme for staff. "Introducing ADCs for the Out Patient Department in May 2011 and later in September for the inpatients was very successful," said Zaidan. "With the nurses being the end-user of ADCs, we carried out a survey to which more than 86.6% nurses responded. Of these 95% reported satisfaction with ADCs and 93% answered 'yes' to the question 'Did your job safety increase with ADC? While 86.2% agreed that they can administer medications more efficiently with regard to giving the right dose at the right time with the Pyxis system." The HMC's Heart Hospital pharmacy department has installed the Pyxis MedStation system which is an automated dispensing system supporting decentralized medication management. At the heart of this system is barcode scanning to help ensure accurate dispensing of medication, features to prevent loading of the wrong medication and active alerts to provide an added safety precaution for high risk medications. Speaking on the achievements of the department, Heart Hospital CEO Mahmoud Al Raisi said, "We started our journey three years ago. We picked out team and did a hard, but accomplished a good job during this journey. We have succeeded in a systematic way, particularly the Pharmacy Department. We have achieved a lot during this process, particularly introducing innovative technology." Highlighting this as a key achievement, Al Raisi added, "We are the first hospital here to introduce electronic prescriptions to Out Patient Department. It was a challenge we have successful done." One of the other significant contributors to their success was building a good pharmacy team. "It was not easy since we had to work with professionals from different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds," he said. As part of its human resource development programmes, the department held contest like 'My best clinical intervention competition' held every quarter. "We held reward programmes to keep the staff motivated," said Zaidan. She mentioned the positive contribution made by HMC's partners. "We have had great relationships and work co-ordination with all departments of HMC as well as partners like the Qatar University and College of North Atlantic Qatar." Among the Community Outreach Activities Zaidan mentioned, the Sidra Health Awareness Day and Qatar University Open Day, both held this April and the Healthy Heart Campaign held at Qatar National Convention Centre earlier this month. With the success of the new initiatives, QNA asked the question, 'how many patients HH handles?' "The Heart Hospital handles around 250 patients on an average per day," said Al Raisi. "The number is high due to two reasons," replied Zaidan, "First the population of Qatar has increased tremendously and the second crucial factor is the lifestyle and eating habits that trigger health issues." The event concluded with Al Raisi presenting certificates of appreciation to staff. (QNA)