Selection and monitoring criteria for the outsourcing of the medication dispensing in the hospital settings

Objective: To propose quality standards and safety indicators as tools for designing, controlling and monitoring of the medication dispensing process in the hospital settings considering its outsourcing. Method: Standards were selected considering both technological and human factors of the medication dispensing process. We consulted literature related with the accreditation of hospital pharmacy services, medication safety self-assessment related to education and publications of professional institutional organizations. Results: More than 40 quality standards of structural items, process and outcome and 10 quantitative indicators for assessing medication dispensing were proposed. Conclusions: The proposed standards and indicators allowed monitoring quality and productivity of drug cycles in the medication dispensing since they involve technological and human factors, being tools for indicating further improvement.