Stock Management Module: Stock Operations

[ckote (Kote Cosmas)]

The KenyaEMR team had a Stock/Commodity Management Module meeting focused on two main areas: prescriptions and stock operations. For prescriptions, our users emphasized the need for auto-calculation of quantities, especially for ARVs. These request enhancements aim to streamline the dispensing process while maintaining prescription integrity.

Regarding stock operations, the discussion highlighted the need for a more efficient and traceable drug movement system, from the main store to dispensing areas, with clear documentation using S11 forms. A proposal was made to differentiate between pharmacy and dispensing area stocks, and to simplify operational workflows. Adjustments in stock require justification, categorized as positive (e.g., recalls, returns) or negative (e.g., theft, improper handling). Losses and stock take also require specific reasons. Additionally, during prescribing, drugs with available stock should be prioritized in the system interface to improve efficiency and reduce errors.

Terminology Definition

Loss is a consequence, while disposal is an action taken to address that consequence or other inventory management needs.

Key Requests

• Align reasons for Loss, -Ve, +Ve and Stock take separately
• Enhance the system to provide a Loss as an operation – The current use of disposal makes a lot of assumptions that could lead to misinformation when creating reports.

Suggested Reasons to be added

Reasons for Adjustments:

+Ve

• Re-Call on products

• Stock rationalization within the various dispensing points

• Errors in previous stock take

• Receiving Errors

• Return from patient

• Return from store/dispensing areas

• Others (specify)

-Ve

• Short expiry product redistribution

• Medication stolen

• Medication given to other facilities

• Improper handling

• Dispensed without recording

• Others (specify)

Reasons for Loss

• Product expired

• Damages/Breakages

• Others (specify)

Reasons for Stock Take

• Stock rationalization within the various dispensing points

• Errors in previous stock take

• Others (specify)

[kmuiruri (Keziah Muiruri)]

Negative adjustment and positive adjustment are distinct operations, and collapsing them into one will pose a huge challenge to the users.

Similarly, loss and disposal are distinct operations. Disposal happens at the store only and is not applicable to other locations. Therefore, there’s a need to introduce an operation ‘Loss,’ which will allow other locations (apart from Store) to document and report on loss.

[grace (Grace Potma)]

I’m SO glad you and the Stock Management squad are working on this Better inventory/stock management is a key thing we need to improve on and add to the mainline OpenMRS EMR. Asante sana!!!

Thank you for the great notes, @ckote - very appreciated. And awesome to see you here @kmuiruri

I have 2 questions/points:

• Maybe a silly question that should be obvious: Can you say more about “differentiate between pharmacy and dispensing area stocks”? Are these typically two different physical areas in a building? Do you mean sometimes sites have a dispensing office that’s smaller, meanwhile there’s a separate, bigger general pharmacy behind-the-scenes?

• Just a general thing; re. Form 11 - I’d encourage the squad to try and design things as if you were going to roll the system out in multiple countries. So try and makes things like that configurable (e.g. driven by a config pointing to a form built with the Form Builder). That way both Palladium and other orgs will be able to re-use your work even if their own country has a different Form etc.