Pharmacy Management Research Articles

Proof of Concept of ChatGPT as a Virtual Tutor.

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and perceived value of an instructor-developed ChatGPT-based virtual tutor for third year PharmD students in a pharmacy management course. The objectives were to assess faculty time required to develop the tool and to analyze student engagement and perception of its educational value. The virtual tutor was developed by the instructor and consisted of custom ChatGPT prompts deployed via the course's learning management system. Development metrics were documented, including time invested and iterations needed for prompt refinement. A post-use questionnaire evaluated student uptake and experience, which included frequency of use, perceived value for learning and exam preparation, and overall satisfaction. The development of the virtual tutor required a total of 119minutes, demonstrating a feasible time investment. Ninety-two of 130 students completed the questionnaire for a 70% response rate. Sixty-one students (66%) engaged with the tutor, with varying degrees of use. Most students (82%) reported increased confidence for exams, and 99% acknowledged enhanced understanding of the course material through the tutor. The virtual tutor proved to be a feasible educational tool with considerable student uptake and satisfaction. It offered a time-efficient alternative for educational support, potentially reducing the need for traditional face-to-face tutoring. The study highlights the effectiveness and practicality of ChatGPT as a virtual tutor in pharmacy education, but further research should explore its application across different content areas as well as potential unintended consequences.

Quality Management in Spanish Community Pharmacy: Implementation of ISO 9001.

Spanish community pharmacy has been incorporating some methods and approaches in the evaluation and improvement of quality, with the ISO 9001 standard being the most used reference. The experience of a community pharmacy in Spain is presented. The pharmacy implemented a management system based on the ISO 9001 standard in 2020, using the Deming cycle with the aim of enhancing the quality of pharmaceutical care. The results obtained in the processes over the following 2 years are also presented. The ISO 9001 standard was reviewed to ensure compliance. The Quality Management System control documentation was updated and included the following documents: quality manual, process map, operational processes and procedures, quality indicators and incident records. The pharmacy has planned and implemented a process of monitoring, measurement, analysis of results and continuous improvement for operational, strategic and support processes during the time period of the study. The main operational processes were associated with a set of indicators which permitted to know the results obtained, analyse deviations and implement improvements. The planning and development of the project encompassed approximately 1 year and involved several key stages: (1) diagnosis and assessment of quality situation, (2) analysis of processes, (3) preparation of documentation, (4) implementation of the Quality Management System, (5) internal audit, (6) monitoring of activities and continuous improvement, (7) follow-up audit by the certifying body, (8) obtaining the ISO 9001:2015 quality certificate. The planned schedule was adhered and the documents were successfully drafted. In total, eight operational processes, nine support processes and six strategic processes were reviewed and included in the Quality Management System. Twenty indicators were established to monitor and analyse the performance of these processes. During audits, deviations in the system or nonconformances were identified and analysed. In the first year of system implementation, five nonconformances were identified, decreasing to two in the subsequent two periods. In 2020, three improvement actions were implemented with the objective of: (1) implementing a medication reconciliation service, (2) developing a medication dose adjustment service for polymedicated patients, and (3) implementing a service to measure and improve inhalation technique in patients using inhalers. The implementation of a methodology based on the ISO 9001 standard has facilitated: (1) Integrating process management as a regular working methodology, (2) A focus on the continuous improvement of services, (3) Achieving recognition of the staff efforts and involvement.

Service evaluation of the research outputs for 23/24 at a large London teaching hospital

Abstract Introduction The recent report of a UK survey of pharmacy professionals’ involvement in research1 found only small numbers of the pharmacy workforce are currently undertaking research. A number of reasons for this are identified and the report contains a list of recommendations to support the embedding of research into pharmacy careers.1 Within the pharmacy department at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH) all research proposals are presented at the pharmacy research and audit group and a log is kept of department research outputs by the clinical academic research lead. The analysis of this data will provide a benchmark. For the purposes of this study, research encompasses audit, service evaluation and research studies as defined by the Health Research Authority defining research table.2 Aim To identify, over the financial year 23/24, the frequency of different types of research outputs from the pharmacy department at KCH broken down by output type, specialty and role. Methods Regular emails were sent April 23 – March 24 to remind staff to identify and share research outputs with the clinical academic research lead. Outputs received were circulated by newsletter to encourage and motivate others. The clinical academic research lead engaged with individual pharmacy teams throughout the year to encourage and support research outputs. Research output data was collected, April 23 – March 24, on an Excel spreadsheet including staff name, role, specialty, type of research output and date the output was completed. Research outputs were categorised into published articles, published abstracts, attendance at conference, abstracts presented at conference and presentations at conference or national webinar. Ethics was not required as the study is defined as a service evaluation. Results There were a total of 89 research outputs by the pharmacy department across the year. These were broken down into published articles (20), published abstracts (16), attendance at conference (24), abstracts presented at conference (26) and presentations at conference or national webinar (3). The two specialty teams who produced or took part in the most research outputs over the year were critical care (15) and liver (11). Consultants pharmacists were involved in the most research activity (32) followed closely by principal pharmacists (26), specialist pharmacists (25) and the deputy chief pharmacists (19). Pharmacy technicians, pharmacists taking part in the STEP programme and non-registered pharmacy staff scored the least in terms of research activity relative to size of staff group. Consultant pharmacists and principle pharmacists were the groups that published the most articles (8 each). Discussion and conclusion The trust implemented a new electronic patient record system during the year which may have impacted the number of research outputs. A limitation to this study is that there are likely to be unrecorded research outputs. The data broken down by specialty and role will allow the pharmacy management group and clinical academic research lead to support, engage and motivate in those areas to allow staff to have the time, skills and guidance to carry out research activities. The results can be used by other healthcare organisations to benchmark against.

Early years pharmacist retention – a listening exercise

Abstract Introduction Pressures on pharmacy workforces are increasing, with 88% of hospital pharmacists reporting high risk of burnout and 62% considering leaving their role due to the impact of work on wellbeing.1 Early years pharmacist (EYP) recruitment is increasingly challenging. Traditional pharmacist career pathways are in competition with increasingly preferred portfolio-based careers. Many trusts are introducing band 6 to 7 progressive schemes to improve retention, including at University Hospital Southampton (UHS). However, anecdotal departmental feedback suggests that EYPs feel this scheme is being applied unequally across different sections and there is discontent with differing workload and development opportunities. Aim To develop an understanding of concerns and expectations of Early Years Pharmacists at UHS. Methods All pharmacists in Agenda for Change band 7, and 6 to 7 progression posts, were invited to participate in an in-person forum. Attendance was voluntary but supported by the senior pharmacy management team. The group facilitator, a senior pharmacist known to participants, introduced the session topics, explained the rationale, then asked participants to provide written comments anonymously on a range of topics. Comments were gathered at the end of the session and thematically analysed with review from an experienced qualitative researcher. Whilst deemed a service evaluation, not requiring ethics approval, data was recorded and managed in accordance with best ethical practices. Results Twenty-Eight EYP attendees provided 102 separate comments. Themes identified related to departmental progressive post variations in; on-call expectations, mentoring, opportunities for formal credentialling, and feedback from line managers. The variations were perceived to be unjust. Commonly, points raised related to professional development. Issues included protected study time both for those undertaking post-graduate courses and those not, workload demands meaning that time for development was limited, and inequalities of access. Discussion/Conclusion As anticipated, there was discontent within the group particularly regarding perceived variations in workload, role opportunities and progression across the department. Additionally, there was some antipathy regarding whether things could be improved. However, the forum feedback suggested the opportunity to participate was well received, having provided participants an opportunity to raise their concerns in a confidential, collaborative, manner. Following initial headline feedback of EYP feeling unappreciated, all senior leaders were reminded of the importance of positive feedback and anecdotally the Trust systems for this have been used more frequently since this reminder. There are limitations with this evaluation, the group was too large to truly be considered a focus group and as such the facilitator was unable to interact with all members and probe for further information which may have been helpful. Furthermore, the facilitator was line manager for a small number of the participants, and they may have felt less able to make negative comments despite the anonymous comment collection. Several of the points raised have led to further questions and we now intend to conduct a formal qualitive study using semi-structured interviews with volunteers across the department to obtain more detailed insight into the challenges of this staff group. Meanwhile work will continue to make the EYP process and experience more equitable. Reference 1. Royal Pharmaceutical Society (2023). ‘Workforce and Wellbeing Survey 2023’. Available online. [Accessed 7th May 2024].

АНАЛИЗ ОБЪЕМА ПРОДАЖ КОМБИНИРОВАННЫХ ПРЕПАРАТОВ ДЛЯ СИМПТОМАТИЧЕСКОЙ ТЕРАПИИ ОСТРЫХ РЕСПИРАТОРНЫХ ВИРУСНЫХ ИНФЕКЦИЙ И ПРОРАБОТКА АССОРТИМЕНТА АНТИГРИППИНА НА ПРИМЕРЕ АПТЕКИ ГОРОДА КАЗАНИ

There is strong competition between pharmacy providers. The abundance of advertising allows the public to be relatively informed in the variety of medicines offered by suppliers. All of the above, including high rent for inventory storage space, emphasizes the problem of the need for rational assortment formation. Only a properly created assortment of goods will allow the pharmacy to compete in the eyes of consumers, not to lose regular customers and to acquire new ones. With effective management of the product assortment can increase the income of the pharmacy due to the lack of unsatisfied demand. It is also possible to reduce the number of sales lost due to lack of goods, to accelerate the turnover of goods, to reduce the cost of storing medicines. Currently, there is a variety of combination medicines offered by suppliers to combat several symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections. The article presents the results of ABC-analysis, XYZ-analysis and their combination on the example of the assortment of dosage forms of antigrippin of the pharmacy of the state network of the city of Kazan. The distribution of antigrippin assortment into groups is shown and recommendations on the strategy of the pharmacy manager in relation to each of the groups are offered. The fact that these are seasonally consumed commodities with medium forecasting capabilities makes it difficult to plan the procurement of combination medicines to control several symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections. After combining the results of ABC XYZ analysis, it was found that antigrippin pharmacy-made antigrippin and antigrippin effervescent tablets are commodity items with a low share of turnover and number of sales units. They showed a medium degree of forecast reliability due to unstable demand. Antigrippin express powder, antigrippin - ANVI capsules and Vicks Antigripp Max powder made up the majority of the assortment, a small share of the turnover of antigrippin dosage forms and the number of sales units. These products showed low forecast reliability due to non-constant demand and generated little profit. This could be due to the fact that the consumer did not have sufficient information about these products.

Advancements and Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Pharmaceutical Sciences: A Comprehensive Review

: Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry, improving drug discovery, development, and personalized patient care. Through machine learning (ML), deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and robotic automation, AI has enhanced efficiency, accuracy, and innovation in the field. The purpose of this review is to shed light on the practical applications and potential of AI in various pharmaceutical fields. These fields include medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacology and toxicology, clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical biotechnology, pharmaceutical nanotechnology, pharmacognosy, and pharmaceutical management and economics. By leveraging AI technologies such as ML, deep learning, NLP, and robotic automation, this review delves into the role of AI in enhancing drug discovery, development processes, and personalized patient care. It analyzes AI's impact in specific areas such as drug synthesis planning, formulation development, toxicology predictions, pharmacy automation, and market analysis. Artificial intelligence integration into pharmaceutical sciences has significantly improved medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, and synthesis planning. In pharmaceutics, AI has advanced personalized medicine and formulation development. In pharmacology and toxicology, AI offers predictive capabilities for drug mechanisms and toxic effects. In clinical pharmacy, AI has facilitated automation and enhanced patient care. Additionally, AI has contributed to protein engineering, gene therapy, nanocarrier design, discovery of natural product therapeutics, and pharmaceutical management and economics, including marketing research and clinical trials management. Artificial intelligence has transformed pharmaceuticals, improving efficiency, accuracy, and innovation. This review highlights AI's role in drug development and personalized care, serving as a reference for professionals. The future promises a revolutionized field with AI-driven methodologies.

Peran Dinas Kesehatan Bojonegoro dalam Pengawasan Izin Praktik Tenaga Teknis Kefarmasian di Apotek

This study aims to determine the role of the Bojonegoro Regency Health Office in Supervising the Pharmacy Technical Staff (TTK) Practice Permit at Pharmacies and the legal consequences received by Pharmacists as Pharmacy Manager Pharmacists (APA). This research is normative-empirical legal research (applied normative law), with a qualitative approach, combining a normative legal approach with the addition of various empirical elements. The data collection method used in this research is information obtained directly in the field in the form of interviews and document studies from various sources related to legal norms. The results showed that socialization, monitoring and guidance were gradually implemented by the Bojonegoro District Health Office if there were new rules and/or regulations from the government. There is a direct inspection to the field, but it is not optimal, because there are obstacles, namely the lack of Health Human Resources at the Health Office. The legal consequences received by pharmacists from violations of the governing laws and regulations include administrative sanctions, disciplinary sanctions, and criminal sanctions. The conclusion that can be drawn is that the Supervision of Utilization of TTK Practice Permits in Bojonegoro Regency in its implementation is still not optimal because the Bojonegoro Regency Health Office cannot carry out Supervision routinely due to the lack of Health Human Resources at the Bojonegoro Regency Health Office. As well as the legal consequences that can be received ranging from administrative, disciplinary, to criminal sanctions.

Determining user implementation needs for pharmacist-prescribed contraception using concept mapping: A participatory, multiple stakeholder approach

BackgroundAs of October 2024, 29 states and the District of Columbia allow community pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives. Pharmacists have reported many challenges and barriers to service implementation. MethodsConcept mapping was used to gather insights from diverse stakeholders to identify resources to facilitate implementation of pharmacist-prescribed contraceptive services. Stakeholders included end-users (pharmacy managers, staff pharmacists) and decision-makers (pharmacy owners/executives). Participants' ideas for resources were collected via multi-stakeholder focus groups. Participants then rated each idea (i.e. statement) in terms of importance and feasibility (1 = not at all important/feasible, 4 = extremely important/feasible) and sorted ideas into groups based on similarity via an online survey. Sorting data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis to develop a cluster map. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze rating data to develop a go-zone map, where statements rated above average in terms of both importance and feasibility are plotted in the “go-zone” and are considered the most actionable ideas. ResultsParticipants (focus groups n = 19, survey n = 48) generated 46 unique statements which created four clusters via multidimensional scaling: 1) implementation guidance for practice setup, 2) marketing resources, 3) billing and payment resources, and 4) appointment management. The majority of the statements (13 of 15) considered the most actionable were from the implementation guidance and appointment management clusters. ConclusionsStakeholders seek guidance on implementation, marketing, billing and payment, and appointment management. To increase the ability of community pharmacies to meet the contraceptive needs of patients, resources should be dedicated to creating tools and solutions to address these identified needs.

Chain community pharmacists’ requests for patient information during routine care

BackgroundTo optimize service provision, community pharmacists need information (e.g., laboratory values and updated medication lists), which can be difficult to obtain. Contacting prescriber offices is a common approach to obtain information but is often ineffective. Health information exchange (HIE) is one potential solution to this problem, and recent survey research has identified the information needs of independent pharmacists that could be addressed through HIE. However, the information needs of chain community pharmacists are unknown. ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to characterize the patient information requests made by chain community pharmacists during routine practice. MethodsThis electronic card study captured cross-sectional observational data on patient information requests made by chain pharmacists in central Indiana during routine practice. Only one pharmacist meeting eligibility criteria per pharmacy could submit data. Pharmacists were randomized to a two-week data collection period. In real-time, pharmacists recorded the following: type of information requested, reason for request, information source, whether initial or follow up request, modality of communication, and the time required to make the request. Data analysis occurred via descriptive statistics. The Indiana University Institutional Review Board approved all study procedures. ResultsNineteen of the 33 eligible pharmacists (57.6%) consented to the study. Most participants held a PharmD degree (78.9%) and were the pharmacy manager (89.5%) at their location. Updated medication orders/lists (41.3%) and insurance (33.3%) were the most common type of requested information and was primarily used for prescription clarification/filling (93.4%). The prescriber office (53.6%), as well as the patient/caregiver (39.8%), were the most frequent source of this information. Requests were largely completed by telephone (61.2%) and averaged 6.0 minutes (SD: 4.8). ConclusionCommunity pharmacists require key patient data during routine practice. There is a need to develop mechanisms, like HIE, to address gaps in needed information in the community pharmacy setting, regardless of the offered services.

Web Application for Recommendation of Pharmacy Management System

Pharmacists can utilize the Pharmacy Management System software to efficiently manage their pharmacies. When the name of a medicine is entered, the system provides detailed information, such as dosage, expiration date, and other relevant data. Managing the details of all medicines manually can be challenging, especially in large medical stores. This software helps maintain records of all medicines, allows updates as new drugs are added, and includes features like an expiration date tracker and a search function. Upon entering a medicine's name, the system displays its details. The software was developed using Visual Studio with C# and ASP.NET, while MySQL was used to create the SQL database. This comprehensive pharmacy management solution streamlines tasks such as stock control, medication management, billing, and reporting. It also offers a clear overview of the business's overall performance, including costs and sales.

Insights into Pharmacists' Participation in Professional Certification Programs in Saudi Arabia.

Professional certification programs play a crucial role in helping pharmacists develop specialized skills and establish their expertise in the field. This study explores how pharmacists in Saudi Arabia engage with these programs by examining their levels of awareness, attitudes, and participation. It also identifies the key barriers and motivators that influence their decision to pursue certification. An online survey was conducted among pharmacists in Saudi Arabia to assess participants' knowledge of certification programs, their perceived benefits, the actual participation rates, and their preferences regarding certification areas and assessment methods. Out of 394 participating pharmacists, around 47% had never participated in a professional certification program, and about 27% of our sample were unaware of such programs in Saudi Arabia. Financial constraints and a lack of awareness were noted as the primary barriers to participation. Almost 55% showed an interest in Clinical Pharmacy Specialties certification, while 54% were inclined toward Pharmacy Management and Leadership certifications. A preference for practical assessments in certification programs was suggested by 55% of participants. This study highlights a significant need for increased awareness and accessibility to professional certification programs among pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. Addressing participation barriers is vital to foster professional development and meet the healthcare sector's evolving demands in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS OF MANAGEMENT IN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF MASTERS OF PHARMACY

The article outlines the importance and role of scientific management methods as a factor in improving the mechanisms of managerial influence on pharmaceutical employees and a component of technologies for training masters of pharmacy in educational institutions to ensure the effective performance of their general and specific functions in the industry. The purpose of the study is to characterize the economic methods of pharmaceutical management, which are related to the activities of a pharmacy manager by the nature of influence and the specifics of their mastering in the process of professional training. The survey of a group of 121 students majoring in the specialty 226 «Pharmacy» has allowed us to identify the demand of future masters of pharmacy for the use of methods of studying and building economic plans in the organization (strategic, tactical, operational), developing a budget for a separate structure (its functions, production and economic processes, areas of cost savings and increased revenues, targeted use of funds, development of internal monitoring, delegation of authority, etc. Aspects of the training content are proposed to fill the gaps in the knowledge of applicants identified during the survey. At the same time, a survey of 49 teachers of pharmaceutical faculties and higher education institutions has revealed the need to apply and study administrative management methods as a set of organizational, administrative, and disciplinary methods of influence on masters of pharmacy. It has been concluded that future masters of pharmacy need to study and master the set of methods of pharmaceutical management in the process of training and practical training at the enterprise.

Selection of marine bacterial consortia efficient at degrading chitin leads to the discovery of new potential chitin degraders.

Chitin degradation is a keystone process in the oceans, mediated by marine microorganisms with the help of several enzymes, mostly chitinases. Sediment, seawater, and filter-feeding marine invertebrates, such as sponges, are known to harbor chitin-degrading bacteria and are presumably hotspots for chitin turnover. Here, we employed an artificial selection process involving enrichment cultures derived from microbial communities associated with the marine sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis, its surrounding seawater and sediment, to select bacterial consortia capable of degrading raw chitin. Throughout the artificial selection process, chitin degradation rates and the taxonomic composition of the four successive enrichment cultures were followed. To the best of our knowledge, chitin degradation was characterized for the first time using size exclusion chromatography, which revealed significant shifts in the numbered average chitin molecular weight, strongly suggesting the involvement of endo-chitinases in the breakdown of the chitin polymer during the enrichment process. Concomitantly with chitin degradation, the enrichment cultures exhibited a decrease in alpha diversity compared with the environmental samples. Notably, some of the dominant taxa in the enriched communities, such as Motilimonas, Arcobacter, and Halarcobacter, were previously unknown to be involved in chitin degradation. In particular, the analysis of published genomes of these genera suggests a pivotal role of Motilimonas in the hydrolytic cleavage of chitin. This study provides context to the microbiome of the marine sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis in light of its environmental surroundings and opens new ground to the future discovery and characterization of novel enzymes of marine origin involved in chitin degradation processes.IMPORTANCEChitin is the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth after cellulose, and the most abundant in the marine environment. At present, industrial processes for the conversion of seafood waste into chitin, chitosan, and chitooligosaccharide (COS) rely on the use of high amounts of concentrated acids or strong alkali at high temperature. Developing bio-based methods to transform available chitin into valuable compounds, such as chitosan and COS, holds promise in promoting a more sustainable, circular bioeconomy. By employing an artificial selection procedure based on chitin as a sole C and N source, we discovered microorganisms so-far unknown to metabolize chitin in the rare microbial biosphere of several marine biotopes. This finding represents a first important step on the path towards characterizing and exploiting potentially novel enzymes of marine origin with biotechnological interest, since products of chitin degradation may find applications across several sectors, such as agriculture, pharmacy, and waste management.

The benefits (or detriments) of adapting to demand disruptions in a hospital pharmacy with supply chain disruptions.

Supply chain disruptions and demand disruptions make it challenging for hospital pharmacy managers to determine how much inventory to have on-hand. Having insufficient inventory leads to drug shortages, while having excess inventory leads to drug waste. To mitigate drug shortages and waste, hospital pharmacy managers can implement inventory policies that account for supply chain disruptions and adapt these inventory policies over time to respond to demand disruptions. Demand disruptions were prevalent during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it remains unclear how a drug's shortage-waste weighting (i.e., concern for shortages versus concern for waste) as well as the duration of and time between supply chain disruptions influence the benefits (or detriments) of adapting to demand disruptions. We develop an adaptive inventory system (i.e., inventory policies change over time) and conduct an extensive numerical analysis using real-world demand data from the University of Michigan's Central Pharmacy to address this research question. For a fixed mean duration of and mean time between supply chain disruptions, we find a drug's shortage-waste weighting dictates the magnitude of the benefits (or detriments) of adaptive inventory policies. We create a ranking procedure that provides a way of discerning which drugs are of most concern and illustrates which policies to update given that a limited number of inventory policies can be updated. When applying our framework to over 300 drugs, we find a decision-maker needs to update a very small proportion of drugs (e.g., ) at any point in time to get the greatest benefits of adaptive inventory policies.

Pharmacists' interventions on prescribing errors in Malaysia.

Prescribing errors (PEs) cause significant avoidable harm globally. In Malaysia, despite the prevalence of PEs in government healthcare facilities, there is limited research on how pharmacist staffing levels influence intervention frequency and effectiveness. This study aims to address this gap by analysing intervention trends and assessing their association with staffing levels, highlighting the correlation between increased pharmacist presence and the frequency of interventions. This retrospective cross-sectional study analysed data from the Ministry of Health's Pharmacy Management Form and the Pharmacy Board Registry from 2017 to 2019. Multivariate regression and two-way ANOVA assessed the association between the number of pharmacists, total prescriptions, and interventions on PEs in Health Clinic Outpatient Pharmacy, Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy, and Hospital Inpatient Pharmacy settings. Annually, pharmacists intervened in approximately 1.8% of total prescriptions, with the most common errors being wrong dose, wrong medication, and wrong dosing frequency. These interventions were consistent across all settings, highlighting the uniformity in pharmacists' approach to managing PEs. The regression analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between the number of pharmacists, total prescriptions, and interventions on PEs, with an adjusted R-squared value of 0.899. Both the number of pharmacists and total prescriptions received were positively significant (p < 0.05), indicating that increased pharmacist presence strongly correlates with intervention frequency. No statistically significant differences were observed in intervention rates across different settings and severity levels, suggesting that pharmacists consistently provide effective interventions irrespective of the clinical context. In conclusion, this study confirms that increasing the number of pharmacists and total prescriptions received are critical predictors of interventions on PEs in Malaysia. It underscores the vital role of pharmacists in enhancing patient safety and healthcare quality, demonstrating their effectiveness in diverse settings and their adaptability to various patient needs and challenges.

Harnessing the potential of ChatGPT in pharmacy management: a concise review

ChatGPT is one of the promising AI-based language models which has the potential to contribute to pharmacy settings in many aspects. This paper focuses on the possible aspects of pharmacy management where ChatGPT can contribute, the prevalence of its use in Saudi Arabia as a practical insight, case studies showing the potential of ChatGPT in answering health-related enquiries, its benefits, challenges, and future prospects of it. Helping clients, verifying medication, examining for potential reactions to drugs, identifying potential interaction between drugs, providing recommendation for suitable alternative medication therapies, assisting healthcare workers and supporting the search for novel medication are the biggest roles that are cited. The study highlights several benefits of using ChatGPT, including greater medical supervision, fewer drug errors, greater power over existing equipment, and support to study about the medicine sector. However, concerns about security, reliability, privacy, over-reliance on AI, and lack of natural judgement must be addressed by careful implementation under human review. The study also provided insight of practical application of ChatGPT in pharmacy education and possible ways of implementing ChatGPT in getting improved care and optimized operation. The future prospect of ChatGPT is promising but requires increased precision, integration of it into education programs, progressing of patient treatment and interaction, and facilitating novel research abilities. In general, the review suggests that ChatGPT has the potential to improve and modernize pharmacy processes but cautious implementation of this developing AI technology, combined with human knowledge is important to improve healthcare in the pharmaceutical field.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Burnout among Community Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia: Findings and Implications.

Burnout has negative consequences for the well-being of healthcare professionals and for the safety of patients. The prevalence of burnout varies among health professions and practice settings and across studies. Consequently, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with burnout among community pharmacists in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. The study used the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) to assess the burnout. The CBI consists of three scales, including personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout. A total of 226 community pharmacists participated in the study. Of these, 63.72% were male, and 44.25% had experience of 1-5 years as community pharmacists. The prevalence of personal burnout was 83.63%, while the prevalence of work-related burnout was 83.19%, and the prevalence of client-related burnout was 76.11%. The prevalence of burnout was higher among younger age, early-career pharmacists; staff pharmacists; pharmacists working ≥6 days per week; and those working in pharmacies with fewer pharmacy teams. Multivariable logistic regression showed that compared to five workdays, working six and seven days per week was an independent risk factor for developing personal burnout [(adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.60: CI = (1.29-10.05), p = 0.014) and (aOR = 4.72: CI = (1.17-19.08), p = 0.030), respectively]. Similarly, pharmacists working in pharmacies with one or two pharmacists were at higher odds of developing personal burnout compared to others working in a larger team (aOR = 3.41: CI = (1.09-10.66), p = 0.035). For work-related burnout, working six and seven days per week was also an independent risk factor [(aOR = 5.78: CI = (1.96-17.06), p = 0.001), and (aOR = 8.38: CI = (1.99-35.27), p = 0.004, respectively)]. For client-related burnout, staff pharmacists were at higher odds of developing client-related burnout compared to pharmacy managers [(aOR = 2.28: CI = (1.01-5.14), p = 0.046)]. Overall, the prevalence of burnout is alarmingly high among community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, it is crucial to urgently address it through robust initiatives, strategies, and interventions that support the well-being, quality of life, and resilience of community pharmacists.

Drug Management and Service Quality in Outpatient Pharmacies at the Haji Padjonga Daeng Ngalle Regional General Public Hospital in Takalar Regency, Indonesia

Drug Management and Service Quality in Outpatient Pharmacies at the Haji Padjonga Daeng Ngalle Regional General Public Hospital in Takalar Regency, Indonesia

Whether medicine supply is really meeting primary health care needs: a mixed-methods study in Shandong Province, China

BackgroundWith the aging population, the increasing prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases, and the diversified needs for primary health care (PHC) medicines, it is necessary to rethink the functional role of the supply of PHC medicines. This study aims to evaluate the supply of PHC medicines and the status of meeting PHC medicine needs.MethodsThe mixed-methods study was conducted to evaluate the supply of PHC medicines in Shandong Province. In the quantitative study, survey questionnaires were distributed to county hospitals, township hospitals, and patients, and a prescription review was performed in township hospitals. In the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the pharmacy managers, physicians, and patients in county hospitals, township hospitals, and village clinics. A senior pharmacist from a tertiary hospital who has rich experience on the indications for medicine use, accompanied us on a visit to inspect the PHC pharmacies to survey medicine equipment with a professional perspective.ResultsQuantitative analysis revealed that 211 county hospitals and 1,581 township hospitals participated in the survey, revealing the median annual frequency of medicine shortages of 5.0 times for county hospitals and 2.0 times for township hospitals. Of the 6,323 patient medication surveys, after excluding 152 patients not involved in medication use, 945 (15.3%) indicated medicine shortages, with half of these attributable to institutions lacking required medicines (52.8%). On average, the prescription qualified rate of 37 township hospitals was 72.2%. Four final themes emerged during the qualitative data analysis: (1) Supply of PHC medicines; (2) Solutions to the shortage of off-list medicines; (3) Appropriateness of PHC medicines list; (4) Pharmacist workforce development and pharmacy services.ConclusionsThe discrepancy between patients’ need for PHC medicine and present medicine supply is noteworthy. It is suggested that governments should optimize the existing lists to adequately meet patient medicine needs and prioritize medicines for chronic diseases, which is also particularly important for developing countries. Integrated health care may be a novel strategy to establish unified medicines list and achieve uniform pharmaceutical services in PHC.

Application of Cache Coherence Protocols in Enhancing Pharmacy Management Systems

The complexity of modern pharmacy management systems mirrors challenges faced in distributed computing, particularly in ensuring data consistency across multiple locations and systems. Cache coherence protocols, widely used in computer science to manage data consistency in multiprocessor systems, offer a valuable framework for addressing similar issues in pharmacy management. This paper explores the application of cache coherence protocols to pharmacy systems, proposing a model that enhances the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of pharmacy operations, particularly in multi-location and online pharmacy environments