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Table 2 Main findings from information systems standpoint

From: Eliminating medicine waste in a Finnish university hospital — a qualitative study

Finding

Description

Inconsistent expiry information

The medicine inventory in wards is maintained manually and there is no accurate information on expiry dates. The expiry information on the wholesaler’s ordering system can be incorrect.

Lack of integration

As the IT systems are not integrated, staff need to manually crosscheck information from various applications when estimating medicines demand and placing orders. Staff often avoid this manual task and base their estimations on rules of thumb.

Lack of official recycling scheme

Recycling is not a managed process, and it is based on voluntary action and an unofficial email ring.

Poor usability of IT applications

Applications appear unintuitive and onerous to use, which leads to further avoidance of their use.

Infrequent ordering process

As the ordering process is a rather heavy and manual operation, it is more economical to order infrequently and in larger quantities than needed.

Inaccurate metrics

Accurate figures on medicine waste are unavailable, given that only medicines returned to the pharmacy are counted as waste. This leads to more confusion in terms of managing and reducing waste.