Pharmacy Workflow Improvement
Inpatient Pharmacy, Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital
Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital is the main healthcare provider for the Gallatin Valley. As the Gallatin Valley grows, so too does the demand for healthcare. The inpatient pharmacy at Bozeman Health was experiencing growing pains in trying to meet the ever increasing demand of the valley without physically expanding its walls.
Goals and Scope
The design team was approached with two main goals for the pharmacy: (1) improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the pharmacy, and (2) develop a final solution that is justifiable both quantitatively and qualitatively and meets the needs of the project stakeholders.
The scope of the project included the physical distance staff is travelling to perform tasks, the overall organization of the pharmacy and storage room, the flow of deliveries form the initial delivery point to the putaway point, the prescription filling process from the initial label printing to the point at which the prescriptions are delivered to other departments in the hospital, and the layout of both the pharmacy and storage room.
Examples of my roles and work:
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Precise measurement of work environment, objects, worker flow (foot traffic, cubicle use)
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Identify safety concerns, ergonomic impacts
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Developing accurate, scaled CAD layouts (block to final)
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Solution/layout rating and selection
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Balancing engineering decisions and feedback from users to develop feasible, quantitatively supported, user-centered design
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Develop and distribute surveys for user feedback
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Selection of new equipment (desks, racks, tables, etc) to fit budget requirements while fulfilling layout design goals to improve flow within pharmacy
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Data to Diagram
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Identify relationships between workstations and other key pharmacy elements
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Build block diagrams --> Use relationship charts to identify elements of pharmacy that could be moved and where --> Use data to create alternative layout designs
Relationship Chart(s) Key
Prioritized Relationships
Relationship Network
Relationship Chart
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Alternative Layouts
With the data gathered from the relationship chart, and accounting for measurements, user feedback, we developed 4 total layouts, 2 of which I developed.
The final layout consisted of element from both layouts I designed and proposed!
Final Layout
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The final layout consisted of elements from both layouts I designed and proposed!
Final Capstone Poster - Summary of Project
Recommendations
The final solution is justifiable both qualitatively and quantitatively and provides the pharmacy with enough space to perform daily job duties without interruption. We recommend new equipment is purchased and the final layout is implemented as soon as possible. The optimal Omnicell refill route should be implemented, but its effects may be less apparent.