Impacts of a Mail-Order Service for Refilling Prescriptions on Patient Satisfaction and Operational Load at a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Jordan

Home delivery of medications: Community pharmacists' perspectives on the pros and cons of the service

Objectives

The main goal of the current study was to investigate pharmacists' perception of home delivery of medications service in Jordan and their willingness to use the service.

Method

This cross-sectional observational study was conducted between March and April 2022. The study targeted community pharmacists working at different community pharmacies across Jordan. The study questionnaire was distributed through Facebook to target Jordanian community pharmacists' groups.

Results

Three hundred and twenty-four community pharmacists participated in the study, 75% (n = 244) of pharmacists reported being willing to use the home delivery and 274 (84.6%) thought it increases the efficiency of their community pharmacies' services. Only 129 (39.8%) pharmacists agreed or strongly agreed that unlike in-store service, home delivery of medications is suitable only for OTC but not for prescriptions medications Nearly half the number of participating pharmacists (n = 153, 47.2%) believe that the service is suitable for refill prescriptions but not for new prescriptions. Pharmacists believe that the foremost pros of the service were to continue life-saving medical treatment (n = 249, 76.9%), serve sick, elderly, and disabled patients (n = 241, 74.4%), and decrease congestion at health facilities (n = 228, 70.4%). On the other hand, the cons of this service, as perceived by pharmacists included failing to build a professional relationship with patients (n = 203, 62.7%), and the contribution to communication errors (n = 147, 45.4%). Logistic regression showed that pharmacists who serve 50 patients or more per day were more willing to use the service than those serving less than 50 patients per day (OR = 2.058, P = 0.032).

Conclusion

The majority of participating pharmacists in this study were willing to use the service at their community pharmacies, especially those serving a large number of patients per day which may indicate the potential of this service in relieving the pressure on community pharmacies and allowing them to serve more patients efficiently.

Evaluation of pharmacy value-added services in public health facilities: Staff perception and cost analysis

Background

Pharmacy Value Added Services (VAS) were introduced in Malaysian public health facilities to facilitate the process of medicine collection. Examples include Drive-through pharmacy, Medicine by Post, SMS Take&Go, Appointment Card and medicine locker, commonly referred to as Medibox.

Objectives

To assess the perception of VAS among pharmacy staff, and to compare the time and cost needed to prepare medications for VAS and conventional counter service.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 17 public health facilities across Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya from May until September 2020. There were two parts of this study: 1) a survey on the perception of VAS among pharmacy staff, which assessed respondents' experience of handling VAS and their perception towards the services; and 2) a cost analysis to compare the direct cost of preparing refill medications for VAS and conventional counter service, estimated from average salary and direct non-medical cost.

Results

290 respondents answered the survey. Most respondents had a positive opinion about VAS. Lack of storage and insufficient manpower were the top two barriers in VAS utilisation and implementation as perceived by pharmacy staff. The average time (in minutes) needed to prepare one prescription was highest for Medicine by Post service (10.31), followed by Medibox (10.25), Appointment Systems (6.24) and conventional counter service (3.99). Medibox had the highest average cost per prescription (RM5.49), followed by Medicine by Post (RM5.05), Appointment Systems (RM2.89) and conventional counter service (RM1.75).

Conclusions

The majority of the respondents involved in this study acknowledged the benefits of VAS to patients, but there were aspects of the services that could be improved. Preparation of patient medication for VAS requires significantly more time and cost than conventional counter service, indicating the need to review and streamline implementation of the services.

•

VAS offer various benefits to patients, but they come with additional cost.

•

The highest cost for VAS implementation was observed with Medibox, followed by Medicine by Post and Appointment Systems.

•

There is a need to streamline the procedure and provide sufficient workforce to cater for the increasing demand for VAS.