Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for hospital pharmacies.
A checklist built from how hospital pharmacies work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Medication order queue
- Ward requisitions and floor stock
- Register of controlled drugs
- Batch and expiry control
- Ward returns and discharge supply
- Purchasing and formulary requests
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For the chief pharmacist
- For clinical pharmacists
- For ward nurses
- For store and dispensing staff
- For purchase and accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Orders pending, by age and ward
- Register balance against physical count
- Ward stock below par level
- Near-expiry and quarantined batches
- Consumption by ward, drug and prescriber
- Non-formulary requests and approvals
- Returns from wards, with reason
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Hospital information system
- Electronic prescribing or drug chart
- Barcode scanner
- Label printer
- Patient billing
- Supplier ordering
- Accounting export
- Automated dispensing cabinet
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it replace our hospital information system?
- How does a medication order reach the pharmacist?
- Can it keep a controlled drug register?
- How are ward stores topped up?
- Can we trace a batch to the ward that used it?
- What about drugs that are not on the formulary?
- Does it handle discharge medicines?
- Can we link an automated dispensing cabinet?
- How do we get our records out later?
- How is the project priced?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Orders are verified from a copy of the chart
- Ward cupboards run short between requisitions
- Controlled drug balances are kept in books
- Returned packs are reissued without a rule
- Discharge medicines sit on a separate bill
Prefer to talk it through? See the hospital pharmacies page.