NATIONAL INSURANCE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED
NIPDEC Central Stores (C40)
ENCOM Pharmacy Management System
Background
The ENCOM Pharmacy Management System was made operational at NIPDEC Central Stores (C40) in 1997. After initial purchase, the system was since customised to be an inventory management system to manage the operations of C40.
The main function of the system include the following:
· Formulary Management
· Tender Management
· Inventory Management
· Purchasing
· Requisitioning and Dispatch
Formulary Management
The system maintains a database of all pharmaceuticals used in local healthcare system. All items are accessible by both generic and brand name. Details maintained on each item such as dispensing units, medical characteristics, storage requirements, controlled substance status and Vital, Essential or Necessary (VEN) status.
Tender Management
NIPDEC conducts a Tender on behalf of the Ministry of Health (MOH) annually for both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical items. Vendor bids are imported into the system, and tender evaluation reports are generated to assist in the determination of awards. These awards are also maintained on the system and used for purchasing, tracking budget allocation usage and vendor performance.
Inventory Management
A real-time system, multi-location system manages all pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical items procured by C40 on behalf of the MOH. This system is linked directly with the Tender Management Module whereby vendor award data is used in the tracking of all inventory. Monthly reports are sent to all public health institutions (PHI) that receive items from C40 to assist in their inventory management.
Purchasing
At present, vendor awards guide all purchases. Any additional purchases are handled on an ad-hoc basis. Vendor delivery performance and the available budget are also tracked.
Requisitioning and Dispatch
PHI requisition currently is done either electronically or via paper requisitions sent to C40. Limited functionality is available to determine exactly where that requisition is in relation to final delivery to the PHI.
A revised system of PHI requisitioning, requisition tracking and delivery trip costing was outlined in July 2003, and has yet to be implemented by ENCOM. A detailed paper on the requirements for this is attached in the appendix.
The present system was adequate for the requirements of C40 when it was introduced. However, it is still a pharmacy management system that was heavily customised to do the job of an inventory management system. The introduction of the Chronic Disease Assistance Plan (CDAP) and the need for vertical efficiency from Vendor to C40 to the PHI necessitate that the IT support system needed for the day-to-day operation of C40 be re-evaluated.
Appendix
Requisition Tracking and Trip Cost System
ENCOM Requisition Tracking and Trip Cost system
The objective of the system is to electronically track a requisition from the date it was prepared at an Institution to the date the items on the requisition were dispatched from Central Stores. In addition, the cost of transporting goods to the various institutions throughout the country is required.
CURRENT PROCEDURES
1) Paper Requisition
A requisition is mailed, faxed or delivered directly to C40. The date of receipt is then stamped and it is placed for data entry.
Requisition Date: Date written on the requisition
Authorization Date: Date requisition was authorised
Stamp Date: Date requisition arrived at Central Stores
Data Entry Date: Date requisition was manually entered (system date)
2) Electronic Requisition
Requisitions entered directly into the system by Institutions logging directly onto the ENCOM server. These are recovered and processed when daily Picking Slips are printed.
Requisition Date: Date entered by Institution
Authorization Date: Date requisition was authorised (system date)
Stamp Date: Date requisition is printed (system date)
Data Entry Date: Date requisition is printed (system date)
Packing procedures
After orders are verified against the printed Delivery Note (DN) they are packed for eventual dispatch.
For each DN the items are checked and placed in boxes, each box is assigned a number which is recorded on the DN. A DN may have more than one number assigned to it, depending on the number of items for packaging. Example ‘AA 1-12’ is translated to mean that for that particular DN the items are packed in boxes labelled AA- 1, AA -2, AA- 3 to AA -12.The following information is manually recorded in a notebook:
(1) Requisition number.
(2) Institution Name
(3) Box number e.g. AA 1-12
(4) No of boxes (for this example 12 boxes)
The boxes are sent to the Dispatching Area and the Dispatch Clerk signs against the entries in the notebook indicating the date boxes were received by Dispatch. Two copies of the delivery notes are handed over to the Dispatch Clerk.
Dispatching procedures
Packages are placed on specific contracted vehicles for delivery to various Institutions.
Packages are selected for distribution based on proximity of institutions in an area.
Dispatching of goods
After deciding on the goods to be dispatched the Dispatch Clerk manually enters in a the Dispatch Book the following for each vehicle:
(1) Institution
(2) Vehicle registration number
(3) The pre-printed DN numbers
(4) No of Packages for that institution
The driver would then sign against the entries indicating acceptance of the responsibility to deliver the Packages to the institutions.
Each driver is assign a Delivery Log Book, in which the Dispatch Clerk would record the following:
(1) Dispatch date
(2) Institution Name
(3) Address (optional)
(4) Number of boxes
(5) Received By (This is left blank)
On receipt of the boxes at the institution the receiving person would sign on the ‘Received By’ space, indicating the receipt of the number of Packages delivered to the institution.
Special Circumstances
1) Direct Delivery (DD)
Items received and then dispatched or Supplier delivery direct to the Institution on C40’s behalf. DD occurs only under special circumstances when the Institution needs the items immediately and they may not currently be in stock at C40.
2) External Pickup (EP)
Items delivered to Institutions using transportation other than contracted vehicles.
Preparation of payment voucher to Transport Contractors
The Dispatch Clerk is responsible for preparing the payment voucher for each Transport Contractor. These payments are based on the number of trips made by each vehicle during the payment month. A list of institutions and the costs assigned to deliver goods to each is predetermined.
Preparing the Dispatch Order
On a daily basis the Dispatch Clerk would prepare ‘Dispatch Order Form’ for every vehicle dispatched on that day.
Information recorded on the Dispatch Order Form:
Transport Contractor Name
Date of order
Vehicle registration number
For each stop on that trip:
Institution Name
- The cost if it is the most expensive
- The cost if it is more than five stops (refer to Standard Location Count and Extra Trip rate
- No of Packages sent to the institution
- Total Cost of Trip
Location Weighting (LW)
Each Institution is given a value or weight based on either its distance from C40 or the current cost of a trip to that institution.
Highest Cost (HC)
This is the cost of the furthest location to be visited. These costs are preset for each location and may be related to the LW.
Standard Location Count (SLC)
A preset maximum number of trip locations charged by the rate set for the furthest location from C40. At present the maximum is five (5) trips.
Extra Trip Rate (ETR)
The standard rate paid for each additional location to be visited over the SLC. At present the rate is $25.30.
Each location to be visited by a vehicle can be determined by its package load. A location list and their weights in descending order can be used to compute the Trip Cost.
Trip Cost Calculation
HC = Cost associated with the greatest LW
Count the number of unique locations to be visited (Location Count)
If Location Count > SLC Then
Trip Cost = HC + ((Location Count – SLC) * ETR)
Else
Trip Cost = HC
End If
A report of the Trip Cost for each contract is vehicle is generated on a weekly basis, to be reviewed by both the contractor and the Supplies Officer, before it is sent for payment at Head Office.
Example of how costing is calculated:
A vehicle is assign to deliver goods to eight (8) institutions in one (1) trip. The institutions and associated costs are:
Port of Spain Hospital 250.00Carenage Health Centre 150.00
Diego Martin H/C 175.00
EWMSC 300.00
Tunapuna H/C 350.00
Tacarigua H/C 400.00
Arouca H/C 450.00
Arima Health Facility 500.00
The cost of the trip =500.00 (Furthest stop) + 75.90 (25.30 x remaining 3 stops)
= 575.90
OUR REQUIREMENTS
Tracking of Requisitions
Additional dates to capture from a requisition:
Date written on requisition
Date requisition was authorised
Date requisition arrived at Central Stores
To track a requisition the user should be presented with the following information:
1) Date requisition was prepared at the institution
2) Date requisition arrived at Central Stores
3) Date requisition was entered in the system
4) Date requisition was authorised
5) Date D/N was printed
6) Date the items on the requisition were received in Dispatch
7) Date items were dispatched
8) Vehicle registration number
9) Packages number
10) The option to view the list of items on the requisition.
Packaging of goods
The user should enter electronically the Package/Box number for each DN. The system should allow the user to enter the Requisition number + the floor code. A screen should display the Institution Name, and entry fields to enter all Packages assign to that Institution.
Receipts of goods at Dispatching Area
The manual preparation of the Dispatch Book should be eliminated. To indicate the receipt of goods at the dispatch area, the clerk should enter the Package/Box number and the date (default system date).
Dispatching of goods
When goods are selected for distribution the clerk would then enter the vehicle registration number, enter the Institution Code, and select from a list (entered at the packaging stage) the Packages to be loaded on the vehicle. The dispatch date would be the system date with the option to change it if necessary. The data captured here can then be used to compute Trip costing.
Generating Despatch Order Form
The system should be able to generate payment vouchers based on the information captured in the section “Dispatching of Goods”. The user should be able to view/print reports by: Dispatch Order Number, Value of Cost by Contactor, List of deliveries to a selected institution, Total value of transportation cost for selected period etc.