Pharmaceutical Representatives' Opinion about Pharmacists' Drug Dispensing Practices in Romania and Factors that Influence them

Abstract

The objective of the research is to identify pharmaceutical representatives’ opinions on some practices of drug dispensing amongst community pharmacists in Romania. Material and methods: 70 pharmaceutical representatives working with different pharmaceutical companies in Romania answered questions regarding practices of drug dispensing. Different variables were taken into account: age, gender, type of education, and length of employment time. Collected data were analyzed with SPSS 17.0. Results: over 70% of the pharmaceutical representatives consider that pharmacists counsel the patient regarding other drug brand names and take into consideration patient financial contribution when dispensing a certain drug. Regarding the relationship of the pharmacist with doctor and rep, 65% of pharmaceutical representatives consider the relationship with the doctor, and 40% the relationship with the rep, important when dispensing a drug. No important differences were identified in relation to the gender or type of education. Conclusion: the study provides information regarding pharmaceutical representatives’ opinions on practices of drug dispensing. More than 2/3 of the reps consider that pharmacists are counseling the patient regarding a drug to a high level.