Improving Pharmacy Services - Essay Example

Unit 4 Improving Pharmacy Services Introduction The quality of pharmacy services is directly proportional to the quality of the people’s health. This means that if the quality of the services offered by a pharmacy is not up to standard, then the patients served by such a pharmacy are bound to be of not-so-good health. Deterioration of services, products, and infrastructure are normal in any entity. The important thing is to have mitigation measures to counter such issues once they emerge, or where possible, keep them from occurring overall.

It is therefore important that the pharmacy sector has such measures so that patients are assured of their safety. In pharmacy, ineffectiveness is likely to occur from misuse, under-use, or overuse of treatments. On the other level, pharmacies can also cause harm if they are not updated on new trends, if they are understaffed, or if they lack the know-how, to mention but a few. The following research text discusses the issues perceived of as important in retaining and improving the effectiveness of pharmacy.

Technology The first issue is technology. Technology is an important tool in almost every aspect of today’s world, and not pharmacy alone. Technology means that existing means of conducting constituent pharmacy activities is enhanced, enhancement herein representing better methods of data capturing and storage, better patient diagnosis, devising of better treatment options, better means of making follow-ups, and faster services (Pharmacy Voice 6). In application for instance, patient records can be stored in their “accounts” created for them and stored in a database.

From there, their history or prescriptions can be easily made when necessary. With such innovations, pharmacy services are bound to remain relevant. Sustainability The second issue, sustainability is equally important in securing the quality of products and services in pharmacy. One way of achieving sustainability is through keeping indicators which can be used in predicting future trends of the industry. These may include new drugs or practices which outdo the existing methods. This would for instance ensure that patients get the best treatments when they become available.

Again, sustainability can be achieved by being connected to the global pharmacy community through which innovations and emerging issues can be shared. In so doing, pharmacy can be interconnected, informed, and universal (Lesko & Anderson 16). The advantage in this is that relevancy and effectiveness would be assured. Organizational structure The final means of improving pharmacy is by having well-structured organizational layouts. Layout covers all the areas from when a patient goes through a health centre to the time they emerge, having received treatment.

Pharmacies should ensure that their staff receives optimum working conditions, free from distraction, stress, or any negative influences. For instance, there should be trainings to sensitize staff on proper (good) health habits. Healthy and happy staff is likely to be best in disseminating services to the people than stressed, under-paid, or sickly staff. Concisely, the comfort of the workforce determines the quality of services and products (Chisholm-Burns, Allison, &Marv 189). Conclusion As the above findings state, there are many channels through which pharmacy can be improved.

However, three dominant issues are highlighted; sustainability, use of technology, and good organizational structure. The research further states that improving pharmacy is beyond the products and services, and extends to intra-organizational factors such as globalization. Technology is important in that innovations foster treatment, diagnosis and infrastructure; sustainability keeps pharmacy informed and relevant; while organizational structure binds the healthcare service providers to patients, and also sustains the performance.

In summary, these are the three most effective means of improving and sustaining the quality of pharmacy. Works Cited Chisholm-Burns, Marie A, Allison M. Vaillancourt, and Marv Shepherd. Pharmacy Management, Leadership, Marketing, and Finance. , 2014. Print. Lesko, Myriah and Anderson, Lowell. “Sustainability”. International Pharmacy Journal, 2011. 27 (1). Pharmacy Voice. Community Pharmacy: An Information Technology Strategy. 2012.