Abstract

LOPEZ-MONTENEGRO SORIA, Mª Á.; ALBERT MARI, A.  and  JIMENEZ TORRES, N. V.. Measurement of continuous improvement in the safety of oncologic patients. Farm Hosp. [online]. 2013, vol.37, n.2, pp.143-150. ISSN 2171-8695.  https://dx.doi.org/10.7399/FH.2013.37.2.379.

Objective: To analyze continuous improvement in the safety of oncologic patients through the change of quality indicators established with the implementation of a quality management system (QMS) according to the ISO 9001-2008 regulation at a oncologic pharmacy unit (OPU). Method: Prospective and observational study carried out between January of 2008 and December of 2011. The ISO 9001-2008 certification of the OPU included the proceedings of electronic prescription, validation, preparation, delivery, and administration of the antineoplastic therapy. The following quality indicators were established: medication errors (ME), preparation and delivery errors not reaching the patient, and ME reaching the patient. The indicators were calculated quarterly through the Farmis-Oncofarm^® software; the adherence standard was defined at < 1 ME per one thousand and the follow-up was done through control graphs. One "postimplementation" period (2008-2011) and one "pre-implementation" period (2007) were established and the U Mann Whitney test was used to compare the median of the indicator for both periods. The differences between the two periods were considered to be statistically significant when the p value was p < 0.05. Results: 140,440 preparations were made at the OPU, for 4,770 patients, corresponding to 52,906 patients-day. The adherence to the standard during the first one-year period allowed reducing the three indicators to < 0,5 ME per one thousand. For preparation ME an abnormal value was identified; the causes were analyzed and improvement measures were proposed. In the post-implementation period, ME were reduced during the post-implementation period as compared to the pre-implementation period (p<0.05). Conclusions: The follow-up of the quality indicators allows measuring and assessing the pharmacotherapy safety in the oncologic patient. After the implementation of the QMS at the OPU, the number of ME has been reduced.

Keywords : Patient's safety; Quality indicator; Medication error; Quality standards; Oncology.

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