E-drug: Re: Drug inventory control software (contd)
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I've noted with interest the recent comments on E-Drug regarding the
need for more effective drug management software. As many of you
know, Management Sciences for Health has developed and deployed
several DOS-based packages for improving public sector drug and supply
management. Examples include INVEC and INVEC-2, which are being used
to manage inventory at large public warehouses in several countries,
and CLM, which is used for managing inventory at lower level
warehouses. Other DOS-based MSH software tools include ECPRO (used to
manage the Eastern Caribbean pooled procurement system), and more
recently, ESTIMED (for quantifying drug needs using morbidity and
consumption methods).
We know that our DOS-based software is outmoded, and MSH believes that
we need to either convert our software to Windows or abandon it. We
are aware of the WHO survey which is still in process, and we know
that many other projects are underway to develop inventory software.
Based on what we do know about the field, we believe that there is a
sufficient demand for Windows versions of INVEC, CLM, ESTIMED and
ECPRO so that it is worth our effort to develop a Windows tool based
on them.
I am pleased to announce that we apparently have secured funding to
design a new tool that will incorporate the functionality and best
features, as well as the lessons learned, from our earlier generation
software. We will consider adding functionality to address areas of
drug management that are not covered in the current software.
We hope to involve international agencies as well as selected national
level agencies and individual experts in helping us with two tasks:
(1) thinking through the design and architecture of the new tool, and
(2) devising a viable plan for programming, disseminating and
supporting the software. With respect to the second of these tasks we
are actively discussing collaboration with private sector firms who
have capacity and expertise in this area.
We are currently working on a survey instrument to collect information
and ideas from current users of our software and from international
agencies and other experts in the field. We don't yet have a firm
idea as to who will be primary sources or potential collaborators.
And we have not decided how input from wider audiences such as the
E-Drug readership can and should be considered. I can only say that
we will definitely be soliciting ideas broadly as we move forward.
Once we do have a project plan and work schedule we'll share it with
interested parties, so if E-Drug readers want more information, or are
interested in participating in our process, please contact us.
I should be clear that there is limited funding, so we won't be able
to support communications or meeting participation costs for anyone
not directly involved in our project, but we do want to share
information and ideas.
Incidentally, we are just beginning the design and development process
for the Windows tool - we won't have a beta-version available for many
months, and the tool will definitely not be made available for general
use until it is tested and debugged. So, please don't call or write
asking for an immediate copy of the software. And, since we are now
committing to a Windows version, we will no longer distribute our
DOS-based tools to additional sites. But, we are looking forward to
hearing from E-Drug readers who want to help us think about the
project and from those who may be eventually interested in using the
software tool.
The best persons to contact for more information are:
Randy Wilson (rwilson@msh.org) or
Julie McFadyen (jmcfadyen@msh.org).
I'll eventually answer queries made directly to me, but I'm tied up
with other matters right now, and it may take me a while.
Jim Rankin
Director MSH Drug Management Program
JRANKIN@msh.org
[Note from moderator: I do hope MSH and others designing software will use
(consider using) ATC classification of drugs and DDD's as statistical tools!
Kirsten Myhr]
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