Evaluating the standards of hospital pharmacies in therapeutic centers affiliated with of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran

In any hospital, a drug distribution system is required to supply the medication prescribed for each inpatient. The drug distribution system includes all the processes that occur between the prescription of a drug and the administration of that drug to the patient. There are many varieties of drug distribution system in use throughout the world, but all have the same goal: to ensure that each dose of medication administered to each patient is exactly that which was intended by the prescriber. Wonderfully, there are still some physicians in Iran who think about a big store of drugs, when they hear the words “hospital pharmacy”. Their day to day hospital care experiences had shown them before, that the only thing which is expected from a hospital pharmacy is supplying medicines. Many of the hospital managers in Iran who are basically supposed to be physicians do think the same [1, 2]. In many developing countries today, modern and advanced healthcare system is benefited from hospital drugstores and clinical pharmacists as great invaluable elements in curing process [3, 4]. Branches of a standard hospital pharmacy are recommended to be wide spread in different departments of the hospital for ensuring the high quality pharmaceutical care services [5]. There are particular standards for hospital pharmacy administration in Iran in addition to some efficient and interesting worldwide ones. These standards can be used after being modified according to our cultural and even religious desires [6]. A survey done by Malik et al showed that the most important problems in hospital pharmacies management are dearth of personal, equipments and spaces deficiency and warranty of persuading continuous drug services [7]. There are few published studies done in Iran on this case. In a study done by Vaziri on selected hospitals affiliated with Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO), lots of deficiencies and inelegances was subjectively observed in equipments, desired spaces and dispensing processes that definitely cause a waste in human resources and the organization funds, and may consequently impose a reduction in ISSO services proficiency and safety too [8]. In another study Mortazavi et al emphasized on a huge gap between hospital pharmacy services represented in 12 surveyed hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and the standard guidelines.1 Inadequacy of needed space for professional services, non standard equipments and instruments and low rate of (clinical) pharmacist effective attendance in clinical wards were reported to be remarkable problems for establishing a standard scientific pharmaceutical care service [1]. On the way of moving from traditional hospital pharmacies to the more scientific and modern ones, it seems crucial to have an analysis before making any decision on this important issue. The importance of Kermanshah as an international border caused to change it to the therapeutic city center beside Iraq in west of Iran. Despite the essential role of administrative authorities of this province on the health care system of the country, to our best of knowledge, there is no previously published research on the basic needs of the above mentioned movement. The aim of this study was to evaluate pharmacy store and storage conditions, equipments, process of ordering, receiving, storing and delivering of the in-patient pharmacies located in hospitals affiliated with Kermanshah University of medical sciences (KUMS). The words “hospital pharmacy” and “drugstore” are used interchangeably within this article and “pharmacy management” is the ideal scientific gold standard terminology for them. INTRODUCTION