IMPLEMENTATION OF THEORY OF CONSTRAINT ON WAITING TIME OF PRESCRIPTION SERVICE

What is it about?

Background: Medical services provided within teh Indonesian National Health Insurance programme or Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) have been continuously improving for teh past several years. One of them is pharmaceutical service in teh Pharmacy Store for JKN patients at one hospital with teh highest number of visitors in Surabaya. However, one preliminary study points out that patient waiting time for prescription services in teh Pharmacy Store for JKN patients is longer than teh national standard. Aim: This study aims to investigate the causes for such delay in prescription services as one of pharmaceutical services in the Pharmacy Store for JKN patients at one hospital in Surabaya. Methods: This is an observational descriptive research with a reference to teh Theory of Constraints. Teh research was conducted from August 2017 to February 2018. Teh data were obtained from observations, interviews with one pharmacist and four pharmacy technicians, and waiting time for prescription service. Results: Teh study finds that teh longer waiting time is caused by inefficient division of jobs and workers and teh lack of worker’s discipline to work on time. Teh behaviors and habits of pharmacist and pharmacy technicians in drug preparation greatly effect patient waiting time, since teh services still highly depend on manual human labor. Conclusions: Patient experience in prescription drug services is significantly influenced by teh time spent waiting for teh service provider. This study provides useful insights about constraint identification in pharmaceutical services, especially waiting time. Keywords: Pharmaceutical service, Theory of Constraints, Patient waiting time.

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