Perceptions on continuity of Cardiovascular patient care by Institutional and Community Pharmacists

Abstract

Background: The role of pharmacists in the continuity of care for patients with heart diseases has not been well studied. In this research, the objective was to explore and evaluate the perceptions of continuity of care for cardiovascular patients by institutional (pharmacists working at pharmacies of hospitals/clinics/health centers) and community pharmacists. Hypotheses were tested to see if there were significant differences in the perceptions of both pharmacist groups on five key dimensions of heart care continuity. Methods: A survey was conducted involving community and institutional pharmacists caring for patients with heart diseases. The targeted sample size was 148 community pharmacists and 148 institutional pharmacists. This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Elements of comparison wereawareness of their medication, patients’ familiarity with safety and benefit of medication, concern about self-care of patients, satisfaction with care received by patients, and access of patients to pharmacists. Descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e., median and Mann-Whitney U tests) were conducted to analyze the data. Results: A total of 240 community pharmacists and 183 institutional pharmacists filled out the survey. The findings of this study showed that there were no significant differences in the perceptions of community and institutional pharmacists on four of the five dimensions of heart care continuity of their patients – perceived awareness of their patients on their medications, satisfaction of their patients with care received, level of concern on their patients' self-care and level of familiarity their patients have on the safety and benefits of their medications. Difference in the perceptions between community and institutional pharmacists on the level of access their patients have to pharmacist services was with a p-value of 0.001. Conclusion: Findings of this study identified “access to the pharmacist” as an area to be studied further between community and institutional pharmacists. Similar perceptions of community and institutional pharmacists showed they were positioned with common opportunities to participate in the continuity of care of patients with heart diseases.