Abstract:
Inventory management for pharmaceutical supply sounds easy all that must be done is to order,
receive, store, issue and reorder limited list of items. This research study aims to find out the
determinants of pharmaceuticals inventory management performance in Jimma Zone Public
Health facilities. As leading factors management support, documentation, and staff skill with
pharmaceuticals inventory management performance were used. The study employed a both
quantitative and qualitative research approach and Descriptive and explanatory research design.
Descriptive statistics using frequency, percentage, mean &SD and inferential statistics by using
Pearson correlation matrix and multiple regression model to investigate the causal relationships
between the determinants of inventory management. Data were collected from the sample of
Jimma zone 45 health (3, hospitals and 42 health centers) facilities based on simple random
sampling and using questionnaire and semi structured Interview. Findings from the study
indicated the current pharmaceuticals inventory management performance much more influenced
by the management ownership, documentation and the skill of professionals working in the
organization. In addition to this, the three independent variables; management support, staff skill
and documentation related information significantly explain the variations (66.6%) in
pharmaceutical inventory management. Management of the health facilities should have to follow
and support the pharmaceuticals sections, through motivating and upgrading the staff skill and
also through assigning the right persons for the pharmaceuticals activities in order to improve the
facilities inventory management performances.
