民眾對醫院與社區藥局慢性病連續處方調劑服務的觀感

The Public's Perception Towards Chronic-Illness Refill Prescriptions: Community vs. Hospital Refill Services

董千儀(Chien-Yi Tung) ； 林慧玲(Fe-Lin Lin Wu) ； 林昌誠(Chung-Chen Lin) ； 林素真(Swu-Jane Lin) ； 何藴芳(Yunn-Fang Ho)

《台灣醫學》 12卷6期 (2008/11) Pp. 635-643

https://doi.org/10.6320/FJM.2008.12(6).02

摘要

The aim of the study was to assess the impacts of the Promotion of Chronic-Illness Refill Prescriptions, a program jointly led by the city health authority, a City Hospital and its branch hospitals, and the local pharmacists' association. The public's experience in both community and hospital pharmacy refill services was also evaluated. The cross-sectional survey of patients with refill prescriptions was conducted in front of the prescription pick-up counter at a municipal hospital during March 7 and April 15, 2005. A total of 358 valid questionnaires were collected from patients or their delegates who had prescriptions refilled for them. The results demonstrated that 287 (80.2%) and 208 (58.1%) persons surveyed had accurate knowledge about the role of community pharmacy in refills and the ensuing exemption of drug co-payment from such refills, respectively. However, generic substitution was correctly perceived by only 46 (12.8%) persons. Moreover, for the first time, pharmacists (33.3%, including at refill consultation booth, hospital pharmacy, and community pharmacy) surpassed physicians (31.8%) to become the primary source of refill information since similar surveys were taken just half year ago. A total of 176 persons surveyed (49.2%), significantly higher than the previously reported 10%, had their refills dispensed at community pharmacies. The study further examined public's perception towards pharmaceutical care services from aspects of professional image, service quality, and drug reliability. The degree of satisfaction was all above 60% except the two particular items related to individualized services. Intriguingly, those who had received refill services from community and hospital pharmacies rated both sites differently (p＜0.05) in all items. Hospital pharmacies obtained higher ratings on the whole, yet community pharmacies were acknowledged for their better individualized services. The study also revealed that the main reason to use hospital pharmacy was because of familiarity (63.3%) and the major concern for using community pharmacy was distance (68.8%), and that drug quality was a critical concern to most patients. We conclude that the joint promotional model was effective in improving public's knowledge in certain aspects of prescription refills, pharmacists as information providers, and community pharmacy refill services. The model deserves continual and broader applications. The community and hospital practitioners are encouraged to share professional competencies with each other to further improve the image of the profession.

關鍵字

慢箋 ； 社區藥局 ； 認知 ； 行為

並列摘要

The aim of the study was to assess the impacts of the Promotion of Chronic-Illness Refill Prescriptions, a program jointly led by the city health authority, a City Hospital and its branch hospitals, and the local pharmacists' association. The public's experience in both community and hospital pharmacy refill services was also evaluated. The cross-sectional survey of patients with refill prescriptions was conducted in front of the prescription pick-up counter at a municipal hospital during March 7 and April 15, 2005. A total of 358 valid questionnaires were collected from patients or their delegates who had prescriptions refilled for them. The results demonstrated that 287 (80.2%) and 208 (58.1%) persons surveyed had accurate knowledge about the role of community pharmacy in refills and the ensuing exemption of drug co-payment from such refills, respectively. However, generic substitution was correctly perceived by only 46 (12.8%) persons. Moreover, for the first time, pharmacists (33.3%, including at refill consultation booth, hospital pharmacy, and community pharmacy) surpassed physicians (31.8%) to become the primary source of refill information since similar surveys were taken just half year ago. A total of 176 persons surveyed (49.2%), significantly higher than the previously reported 10%, had their refills dispensed at community pharmacies. The study further examined public's perception towards pharmaceutical care services from aspects of professional image, service quality, and drug reliability. The degree of satisfaction was all above 60% except the two particular items related to individualized services. Intriguingly, those who had received refill services from community and hospital pharmacies rated both sites differently (p＜0.05) in all items. Hospital pharmacies obtained higher ratings on the whole, yet community pharmacies were acknowledged for their better individualized services. The study also revealed that the main reason to use hospital pharmacy was because of familiarity (63.3%) and the major concern for using community pharmacy was distance (68.8%), and that drug quality was a critical concern to most patients. We conclude that the joint promotional model was effective in improving public's knowledge in certain aspects of prescription refills, pharmacists as information providers, and community pharmacy refill services. The model deserves continual and broader applications. The community and hospital practitioners are encouraged to share professional competencies with each other to further improve the image of the profession.

並列關鍵字

refill prescription ； community pharmacy ； knowledge ； behavior