ASSESSMENT ON AUDITABLE PHARMACEUTICAL TRANSACTIONS AND SERVICES IMPLEMENTATION OUTCOME: THE CASE OF AMANUEL MENTAL SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL

Abstract

The Auditable Pharmaceutical Transactions and Services (APTS) Initiative was implemented in Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital (AMSH), Ethiopia with the aim of improving the quality of pharmaceutical care services and financial management through its expected result in improving availability of medicine, transparent and accountable transaction, efficient budget utilization, effective deployment of work force, generation of information for decision making and improving customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, no study is conducted to assess the outcome of the program in AMSH. Therefore the study assessed the implementation outcome of APTS in AMSH based on its expected result areas. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. Census and single proportion formula techniques were utilized to determine the sample size for the quantitative data respondents whereas; the qualitative data respondents were purposively selected. Quantitative findings showed that, most of the medicines prescribed for the clients were available and clients acknowledged the assistance they received from the pharmacy staffs. Regarding the pharmacy staffs, only 52.4% of them were trained on APTS and most of them believed APTS increased the attrition rate. From the qualitative findings, though most of the indicators for transparent and accountable transactions were conducted, there was lack of regular auditing and monthly financial reporting. And it is shown that workload; inadequate salary and lack of indemnity policy were the major challenges. It is highly recommended for AMSH to; conduct auditing on a regular basis to improve transparency, conduct workload analysis to determine the staff size on an ongoing basis and work on the implementation of an indemnity policy.