Quality Quiz from Professor Cleary

Doug Dren, a newly-graduated young pharmacist who has taken a position at St. Gesundheit Hospital, has been concerned about the length of time it takes to deliver medications in the hospital, and about ensuing late medications. Lying awake at night, he reviews the process. He knows that he fills prescriptions from doctors as quickly as he can, but often, he finds that he is unable to read an order, or that some medications do not fit into available containers, delaying the process and threatening the wellbeing of patients. The number of late medications seems to be increasing, rather than decreasing, but Doug Dren feels that contributing factors are out of his control.

The question that Doug wants to answer can be addressed best by using a problem-solving tool, but which one should he use first? And what is the question, after all?

a) Cause and effect diagram to answer question, "What is causing late medications?"

b) Force field analysis to answer question, "What are the factors that contribute to late medications?"

c) Pareto diagram to answer question, "Which factors are most significant contributors to late medications?"

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