The assessment of the state of prescription dispensing by pharmacists in the context of the electronic prescription introduction in Ukraine

Abstract

Aim. To assess the current state of prescription dispensing of medicines and the effectiveness of introducing electronic prescriptions (EP) based on the results of a survey of pharmacists. Materials and methods. The study materials included regulatory legal acts, scientific publications, data from the State Register of Medicines of Ukraine, and the results of a sociological survey. The general scientific (analysis, generalization, synthesis), theoretical (structural, systemic analysis) and practical (sociological analysis) methods of analysis were used in the study. Results. It has been determined that in accordance with the provisions of the current regulatory legal acts, currently there is a list of OTC medicines in Ukraine. In 2023, it included 3191 medicines. And it is only 21.6 % of all medicines registered in Ukraine as of 18.11.2023. The results of the survey of 262 pharmaceutical employees of pharmacies in different regions have shown that among the main advantages of the introduction of the drug dispensing by EP, 77.5 % of respondents point out a significant reduction in the number of errors due to doctor’s unclear handwriting, 59.9 % note reliable control over dispensing of medicines. It has been determined that 231 pharmacists (89.2 % of respondents) believe that the functioning of EP will enable pharmacies to comply with the requirements of the legislation on prescription medicines. It has been found that more than half – 201 respondents (76.7 %) believe that the introduction of EP in the national healthcare system will prevent the irrational use of antibacterial drugs. The main difficulties that pharmacists most often encounter when dispensing medicines by EP have been identified, in particular technical failures (54 %), the patient’s misunderstanding of how EP works (40.5 %), and the lack of Internet access (30.5 %). It has been found that 94.7 % of pharmacists are familiar with the latest changes in the legislation on dispensing of medicines from pharmacies. Conclusions. Based on the analysis, the main directions of solving current problems related to dispensing of prescription medicines in Ukraine have been identified. It has been determined that the introduction of EP for all finished medicines will contribute to the protection of the patient’s health, the rational use of prescription medicines and reliable control over their dispensing.