Sunday, April 18, 2010

Information request

Quick question... does anybody know of any study that has determined the maximum volume of prescriptions per hour that can be filled safely by a pharmacist? Something by an organization like the ISMP or a similar group.

Leave an answer or link in the comments or email me ericrph@msn.com . Thanks.

2 comments:

Frantic Pharmacist said...

"A landmark Auburn University study demonstrated that "the number of errors increases significantly" between 20 and 24 prescriptions filled per hour, and that any hourly average over 23.5 creates a "high risk of making errors."
I'm not sure of the original article - I belive it is referenced here:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/451962

Anonymous said...

A study done here in Ireland gave a result of approx 10 minutes per item. Of the 10 minutes about 5 minutes could be assigned to a tech. This left the pharmacist able to dispense 12 items per hour or about 100 for an 8 hour shift.
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