Impact of Pharmacist-Led PDCA Cycle in Reducing Prescription Abandonment: An Action Research from China

PURPOSE: Taking medicine as prescribed in time plays an important role in the treatment of diseases. However, some prescriptions have not picked up in time for various reasons. To analyze the influencing factors in patients with prescription abandonment and the role of pharmacists in Plan–Do–-Check–Act (PDCA) cycle, we conducted a study in our hospital of Hangzhou, China. METHODS: Based on the prescription abandonment from October 1, 2021 to March 31 2022, we collected and analyzed the possible causes. According to the PDCA management method, we conducted improvement measures and supervised the implementation of measures from April 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022. The number, the proportion and the amount of prescription abandonment before and after establishment of the PDCA cycle were analyzed. RESULTS: Three measures were proposed and applied to improve the prescription abandonment:(I) Enhancing the education and training to the staff. (II) Improving the medical environment for patients, especially the environment for taking medicine. (III) Updating the computer information software. After the implementation of PDCA, the number of prescription abandonment decreased from 2030 to 775, there was significant reduction in the proportion of prescription abandonment (4.75‰ vs 1.77‰, P<0.05), and the amount of prescription abandonment decreased from $36,161.11 to $17,041.59. The target compliance rate was 108.36%. CONCLUSION: The implementation of pharmacist-led PDCA can effectively reduce the number, the proportion and the amount of prescription abandonment, Moreover, Pharmacists play an important role in improving the management quality of outpatient pharmacy, and PDCA is a feasible and effective management tool for reducing prescription abandonment.