TY - JOUR
T1 - Adherence to Prescribing Indicators at a District Hospital in Ghana
T2 - Do We Match WHO Standards?
AU - Amponsah, Obed Kwabena Offe
AU - Ayisi-Boateng, Nana Kwame
AU - Nagaraja, Sharath Burugina
AU - Nair, Divya
AU - Muradyan, Karlos
AU - Hedidor, George Kwesi
AU - Labi, Appiah Korang
AU - Opare-Addo, Mercy Naa Aduele
AU - Sarkodie, Emmanuel
AU - Buabeng, Kwame Ohene
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - (1) Background: Rational use of medicines (RUM) and their assessment are important to ensure optimal use of resources and patient care in hospitals. These assessments are essential to identifying practice gaps for quality improvement. (2) Methods: Assessment of adherence to WHO/International Network for Rational Use of Drugs core prescribing indicators among outpatients in 2021 was conducted at the University Hospital of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. We reviewed electronic medical records (EMR) of 110,280 patient encounters in the year which resulted in 336,087 medicines prescribed. (3) Results: The average number of medicines prescribed per encounter was three, with generics being prescribed in 76% of prescriptions. Injections were prescribed in 7% of encounters while 90% of medicines were from Ghana’s Essential Medicines List, 2017. (4) Conclusions: With the exception of patient encounters with injections, none of the prescribing indicators assessed in this study met WHO optimum levels, providing targets for quality improvement in RUM. Implementing prescribing guides and policies, regular audits and feedback as well as continuous professional development training may help to improve prescribing practices in the hospital.
AB - (1) Background: Rational use of medicines (RUM) and their assessment are important to ensure optimal use of resources and patient care in hospitals. These assessments are essential to identifying practice gaps for quality improvement. (2) Methods: Assessment of adherence to WHO/International Network for Rational Use of Drugs core prescribing indicators among outpatients in 2021 was conducted at the University Hospital of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. We reviewed electronic medical records (EMR) of 110,280 patient encounters in the year which resulted in 336,087 medicines prescribed. (3) Results: The average number of medicines prescribed per encounter was three, with generics being prescribed in 76% of prescriptions. Injections were prescribed in 7% of encounters while 90% of medicines were from Ghana’s Essential Medicines List, 2017. (4) Conclusions: With the exception of patient encounters with injections, none of the prescribing indicators assessed in this study met WHO optimum levels, providing targets for quality improvement in RUM. Implementing prescribing guides and policies, regular audits and feedback as well as continuous professional development training may help to improve prescribing practices in the hospital.
KW - Ghana
KW - RUM
KW - SORT IT
KW - University hospital
KW - antimicrobial resistance
KW - drug use review
KW - electronic medical records
KW - operational research
KW - outpatients
KW - quality indicators
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139811848&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph191912260
DO - 10.3390/ijerph191912260
M3 - Article
C2 - 36231554
AN - SCOPUS:85139811848
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 19
M1 - 12260
ER -