A Systematic Review: Quality Indicators for Assessing Drug System Management

Abstract

A National Drug Policy (NDP) was implemented in 2011 affecting the Drug System Management
(DSM) performance. An essential tool for assessing the DSM performance is quality indicators (QIs). The
purpose of this study was to review QIs recommended by Thai and international organizations relating to the
DSM. The QIs were gathered following 10 key issues of DSM based on the World Health Organization
(WHO) guideline and presented as the function of DSM following a logic model. Overall, 253 QIs were
found to be recommended by 21 institutions. 52 QIs were excluded and 201 QIs were selected following the
purposes of 10 key issues of DSM. The three DSM issues which have the highest number of recommended
QIs were drug use (75 QIs, 37.5%), drug procurement (25 QIs, 12.4%), and drug storage and distribution
(24 QIs, 11.9%). These QIs of 3 key issues were the major tools of WHO and international organizations in
developing, testing, and assessing DSM in developing countries. However, the lowest number of recommended
QIs were found to be 3 QIs of accessibility of drugs (1.5%) and 2 QIs of rational use of drugs
(RUDs) (1.0%). In these 5 QIs, 2 key issues were beneficial tools for assessing the effectiveness of DSM.
The next step of this study, 201 QIs will be evaluated from DSM specialists in Thailand by using delphi
technique. Therefore, the new set of QIs will be beneficial to policy makers, health personnel and stakeholders
in improving the DSM performance in Thailand.
Key words: systematic review, quality indicators, drug system management