Prescription analysis and drug utilization pattern in out patient department of hospital pharmacy at a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Introduction: A prescription audit is a quality improvement procedure that aims to enhance patient care and is a component of the comprehensive clinical audit. Aim: This study was conducted to audit the quality of outpatient department [OPD] prescriptions at an urban government hospital and to analyse the gap between the medicines prescribed and the effective utilization of alternative preparations available in the hospital and the resulting cost burden on the patients. Material and Methods: An observational study was carried out in a government hospital in Pune wherein 1000 prescriptions were collected randomly from patients visiting the hospital pharmacy irrespective of diagnosis over a period of 10 days in January 2023 and May 2023. The prescriptions were analyzed for medical components and drug use indicators and instances where NSAIDS, multivitamins, antidyspeptics and brand names were prescribed along with their dosing. The data obtained was summed up and analyzed using MS-Excel. Results: Around 36.3% prescriptions had diagnosis mentioned in them, 77.9% prescriptions had ≥ 3 drugs, 49% had fixed dose combinations (FDCs), 43.4% had multivitamins, while 51.8% had antidyspeptics. NSAIDs and paracetamol were prescribed to 45.10% patients. Ten percent prescriptions had drugs that were prescribed from outside, but their substitute was available in the hospital pharmacy. Conclusion: Our study highlights the need of scrutiny of prescriptions by senior consultants in terms of dosing and brand names so that drugs can be utilized appropriately. Sharing of inventory with prescribers and orientation with regard to use of available substitutes may be helpful in reducing out of pocket expenditure. Frequently prescribed drugs can be added in the inventory to reduce the cost burden on patients.

Keywords

• core indicators
• drug utilization
• drug inventory