Abstract:
Abstract.
Introduction. In the pharmaceutical field, the quality management is a priority and the risk management is
a valuable component of an effective quality system. It involves anticipating hazards and controlling risk through a
process of risk awareness, reduction, and review. The aim
of this paper was to reveal the usefulness of modern risk
management strategies and to assess the impact of risk
management in the provision of quality services by community pharmacies.
Material and methods. The causes that can lead to medication errors in community pharmacies were identified
by applying the CNAM Method combined with the Delphi
Technique, later the risks were categorized by the Ishikawa diagram, analyzed and evaluated by applying the expert
analysis method (MAE) in risk assessment, graphically represented by the Matrix risks and ranked, highlighting pharmacy activities during which medication errors may occur.
Results. The risk factor was calculated for 56 potential
risks that can cause medication errors, of which 8 for the
activity of ordering medicines, 8 potential risks for the activity of receiving products, 6 risks for the activity of storing
products, 17 risks for the preparation of drugs and 17 risks
for drug dispensing activity. Applying the MAE method in
risk assessment, risk occurrence probability and outcome
impact values were obtained for each risk. The potential
risks of error were graphically represented using the Risk
Matrix. Thus, the following activities with a major level of
risk were highlighted, for which urgent measures to minimize the impact are required: illegible writing in prescriptions (15.5), fatigue of pharmaceutical staff (15.48), overwork/multitasking (14.99), prescriptions containing errors
(14.26), insufficient staff knowledge (13.81), ordering inappropriate quantities of products in pharmacies (13.59),
incomplete prescriptions (12.86) and similar packaging of
medicines (12.63).
Conclusions. The results of this paper provide the basis
for further research in order to develop a Risk Management
Plan in community pharmacy. The causes that can lead to
errors in the pharmacy have been identified, by highlighting
pharmaceutical activities, during which risks of errors may
occur. The work has practical use, and the research results
can be applied by pharmacies, contributing to the improvement of their performance.
