Inventory management of drugs at a secondary level health-care center in Odisha

Introduction: Planning the recurring purchases in the pharmacy results in efficient functioning of a health-care facility. Limited studies have explored the inventory management at secondary-care settings. The objective of this study was to analyze the annual drug expenditure of Community Health Centre (CHC), Tangi during the year 2017-2018. Material and Methods: The annual procurement of, and expenditure incurred on drugs for financial year 2017-2018 drugs was analyzed at the secondary level CHC always, better, control (ABC) analysis, vital, essential, desirable (VED) analysis and combination matrix of ABC-VED which are inventory management techniques based on expenditure, criticality, and combination of both. Results: Total expenditure for the year 2017–2018 on 232 drugs was 4,606,487 rupees. According to ABC analysis, Category A, B and C constituted 8.6%, 19.4%, and 72% accounting for 70%, 20%, and 10% of the total expenditure. VED analysis showed 21%, 66%, 13% items as Vital, Essential, and Desirable, accounting for 14%, 67%, and 19% of annual expenditure. On ABC-VED matrix analysis, 24.1%, 66.8%, and 9.1% drugs were found to be Category A, B and C, accounting for 74.7%, 24.6%, and 0.7% of annual expenditure. Conclusion: ABC-VED matrix analysis can be used for effective management of inventory at a secondary level healthcare centre.