Abstract

Pharmaceutical performance is a critical factor in the hospital operation. Hospital pharmacy activities require retrieving, processing, comparing, and updating the information. Dashboards are new tools that can track key performance indicators by displaying information to managers in order to improve the performance of the hospital pharmacy. We conducted this study to determine the performance indicators of hospital pharmacies in Iran. This qualitative research was conducted in 2016. The participants were hospital pharmacists and hospital managers. A semi-structured questionnaire was constructed to determine key performance indicators of the hospital pharmacy department. The questionnaire was used in face-to-face interviews and focus groups. The data were analyzed using Framework analysis. The indicators comprised three domains, including managerial indicators (satisfaction, education, staffing, and department management), clinical indicators (patient safety), and financial indicators (income, costs, and financial utilization). Traditionally, pharmacy services included provision and distribution of drugs in the hospital; however, today, with an increase in the complexity and diversity of the drugs, hospital pharmacy services include diverse fields beyond clinical affairs. It could be concluded that pharmaceutical performance has a vital role in successful hospital management. Hospital pharmacy management is not possible without monitoring performance indicators.