Innovative Tools to Investigate Risk In Pharmaceutical Processes

Risk is part of our daily language and is used in a variety of contexts. Taking a risk is an option and not an unavoidable action. Risk management is increasingly becoming an essential part of processes also for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors. The aim of this research was to evaluate the risks of prescribing by pharmacists compared to prescribing by medical practitioners taking antibiotics as a real case scenario. Interviews with industries extraneous to pharmacy were held to understand the meaning of risk in applied scenarios. Two self-administered questionnaires, one for medical practitioners (APQMedPract) and one for pharmacists (APQPharm) were developed and validated to establish pharmacist's contribution in prescribing antibiotics. A regression model to statistically analyse and identify differences of risks involved when antibiotics are prescribed by the two healthcare professionals was developed. This research can help pharmacists identify risk scenarios in different pharmaceutical processes, rank and analyse the different risks, devise risk management plans and implement mitigation strategies to improve outcomes in various settings.