Pharmacy Management Research Articles

Drug therapy-related problem management in Nigeria community pharmacy \u2013 process evaluation with simulated patient

BackgroundUnresolved drug therapy-related problems (DTRPs) have economic and clinical consequences and are common causes of patients’ morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated the ability of community pharmacists to identify and resolve DTRPs and assessed the perceived barriers to DTRP identification and resolution.MethodsA cross-sectional study which employed the use of three simulated patients (SPs) visit to 36 selected community pharmacies in 11 local government areas in Ibadan, Nigeria. The SPs played the role of a patient with prescription for multiple ailments (23-year-old male), type 2 diabetes and hypertensive patient with medication packs (45-year-old male) and hypertensive patient with gastric ulcer with a prescription (37-year-old female). They re-enacted three rehearsed vignettes when they spoke with the pharmacists. A five-member panel of experts predetermined the DTRPs present in the vignettes (n = 11), actions to take to investigate the DTRPs (n = 9) and recommendations to resolve the DTRPs (n = 9). Pharmacists’ perceived barriers to the identification and resolution of DTRPs were assessed with a self-administered questionnaire. The percentage ability to detect and resolve DTRPs was determined and classified as poor ability (≤30%), fair ability (> 30 - ≤50%), moderate ability (> 50 - ≤70%) and high ability (> 70%).ResultsOne hundred and eight visits were made by the three SPs to the pharmacies. In total, 4.42/11 (40.2%) DTRPs were identified, 3.50/9 (38.9%) actions were taken, and 3.94/9 (43.8%) recommendations were made to resolve the identified DTRPs. The percentage ability of the community pharmacists to detect and resolve DTRPs varied slightly from one vignette to another (vignette 1–49.3%, vignette 2–39.1%, vignette 3–38.8%). But overall, it was fair (40.9%). Pharmacists’ perceived barriers to DTRP detection and resolution included lack of access to patient’s/client’s medical history and lack of software for DTRP detection.ConclusionsThe community pharmacists displayed fair ability in detecting and resolving DTRPs. Several barriers preventing the optimal performance of pharmacist in DTRP identification and resolution were identified including inaccessibility of patient’s/client’s medical history. The regulatory authority of pharmacy education and practice in Nigeria need to mount Continuing Education Program to address this deficit among community pharmacists.

Analysis of Application Value of Reasonable Drug Classification and Drug Supervision System in Hospital Western Pharmacy Management

Analysis of Application Value of Reasonable Drug Classification and Drug Supervision System in Hospital Western Pharmacy Management

What drives pharmacists' turnover intention: A systematic review.

Background:Pharmacist turnover can negatively impact not only on work efficiency, organizational performance, work productivity and customer satisfaction, but also on the quality of pharmaceutical services and patient safety. Turnover intention is a core antecedent of turnover. Turnover intention of the pharmacists is affected by many factors related to their organization or job.Objective:To elaborate the factors affecting the pharmacists’ turnover intention and their associations. Studies related to any factors affecting pharmacists’ turnover intention in all pharmacy settings were included. The QualSyst assessment tool was used for assessing the quality of the included studies.Result:For this systematic review, 3,822 studies were identified. Of these studies,20 studies were included. Thirty factors were explored and a model for pharmacists’ turnover intention was produced. Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, career commitment, job stress, perceived organizational support, and work climate were frequently found as drivers to pharmacist turnover intention. Some of 24 other factors had both direct and indirect effects on pharmacist turnover intention via organizational commitment, job satisfaction, career commitment, job stress, and perceived organizational support. Many studies have reported that organizational commitment and job satisfaction had significant influence on pharmacist turnover intention in all settings. Job stress and work climate had direct and indirect effects on turnover intention of hospital pharmacists. Career commitment and perceived organizational support had direct and indirect effects on community pharmacist turnover intention.Conclusion:The factors driving the turnover intention of the pharmacists in different pharmacy practices were different. It indicated that the further interventions should be different to improve the pharmacists’ retention in each pharmacy practice setting. Our systematic review is beneficial to guide human resource management in pharmacy and useful for guiding the conceptual framework of future research studies.

Medicine Storage and Dispensing Facilities in Public Healthcare Pharmacies of Puducherry, India.

BackgroundLarge amounts of medicines are wasted during procurement, storage, distribution, and utilization. Proper procurement, storage, dispensing, and documentation of medicines are important aspects of pharmacy management. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) have developed guidelines for the storage and dispensing of medicines by pharmacists. This study was conducted to assess the storage and dispensing facilities of medicines in public healthcare pharmacies of Puducherry province in south India.MethodologyA one-time survey was conducted in 10 public healthcare pharmacies by filling the checklist which was prepared based on the WHO and IPA guidelines.ResultsFacilities such as adequate surface area, storage area, reception area, and availability of water supply in dispensing area were available in 90% of surveyed pharmacies. The most common system used for the arrangement of medicines was alphabetical order (70%). In 80% of pharmacies, a sufficient number of shelves was available for storage of medicine, and in 90% of pharmacies, shelves were properly labeled. None of the pharmacies had separate storage facilities for expired medicines and narcotic drugs.ConclusionsIn Puducherry, pharmacy services are provided by qualified and experienced pharmacists. Although most of the surveyed pharmacies had all the required infrastructure and equipment facilities, few pharmacies need to improve their facilities to promote good drug-dispensing practices.

Practice and Discussion on the Management Mode of Comprehensive Pharmacy under the Strategy of Healthy China.

Objective To explore the practice of comprehensive pharmacy management mode under the strategy of healthy China. Methods Combining with hospital practice, the advantages and disadvantages of comprehensive pharmacy management mode were discussed and considered. Results The comprehensive pharmacy has advantages in improving work efficiency, optimizing resource allocation, refining pharmacy management, checking the compatibility of Chinese and Western medicines, and improving service quality, and it also increases the labor intensity of staff and is prone to prescription dispensing errors. Conclusion Hospitals with mature conditions and permission can use the management mode of comprehensive pharmacy.

A Survey of Hospital Pharmacy Guidelines for the Administration of 3% Sodium Chloride in Children.

Three percent sodium chloride (3% NaCl) is the treatment of choice for symptomatic hyponatremia. A barrier to the use of 3% NaCl is the perceived risk of both local infusion reactions and neurologic complications from overcorrection. We examine whether children’s hospital pharmacies have policies or practice guidelines for the administration of 3% NaCl and whether these pharmacies have restrictions on the administration of 3% NaCl in terms of rate, route, volume and setting. An Internet survey was distributed to the pharmacy directors of 43 children’s hospitals participating in the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) network. The response rate was 65% (28/43). Ninety-three percent (26/28) of pharmacy directors reported a restriction for the administration of 3% NaCl, with 57% restricting its use through a peripheral vein or in a non-intensive care unit setting, 68% restricting the rate of administration and 54% restricting the volume of administration. Seventy-one percent (20/28) reported having written policy or practice guidelines. Only 32% of hospital pharmacies allowed 3% NaCl to be administered through a peripheral IV in a non-intensive care unit setting. The majority of children’s hospital pharmacies have restrictions on the administration of 3% NaCl. These restrictions could prevent the timely administration of 3% NaCl in children with symptomatic hyponatremia.

RPS directors depart amid executive team restructure

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has confirmed that Gail Fleming, director for education and professional development, will be leaving her role on 7 April 2022, following a restructure of the Society’s executive team. This follows an announcement from the RPS on 24 March 2022 that Robbie Turner, director of pharmacy and membership experience, had also […]

A Secure IoT-Cloud Based Healthcare System for Disease Classification Using Neural Network

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing is the most popular growing technology in the IT world. IoT integrated cloud computing technology can be used in smart cities, health care, smart homes, environmental monitoring, etc. In recent days, IoT integrated cloud can be used in the health care system for remote patient care, emergency care, disease prediction, pharmacy management, etc. but, still, security of patient data and disease prediction accuracy is a major concern. Numerous machine learning approaches were used for effective early disease prediction. However, machine learning takes more time and less performance while classification. In this research work, the Attribute based Searchable Honey Encryption with Functional Neural Network (ABSHE-FNN) framework is proposed to analyze the disease and provide stronger security in IoT-cloud healthcare data. In this work, the Cardiovascular Disease and Pima Indians diabetes dataset are used for heart and diabetic disease classification. Initially, means-mode normalization removes the noise and normalizes the IoT data, which helps to enhance the quality of data. Rectified Linear Unit (RLU) was applied to adjust the feature weight to reduce the training cost and error classification. This proposed ABSHE-FNN technique provides better security and achieves 92.79% disease classification accuracy compared to existing techniques.

A Study on Pharmacy Management

The pharmacy management system was developed to replace manual processes with computerised ones. The system is expected to be effective, practical, and cost-effective in carrying out the obligations assigned by the pharmacy manager. Sales, inventory entry, invoices, tax computations, debt repayment, staff paychecks, product information, and other data, such as the optimum time of year to sell a particular item, are all managed by software. Introduction Issues with the pharmacy. Managing Stock (Available Stock, Expire Dates,) Managing Accounts & Transactions (Payments, Sales), and Issuing Bills. Assumptions made by staff (mistakes, cheatings). We provide Pharmaceutical Management Solution as a result. Using this approach. User identification Processing transactions and accounts Handling stocks Bill issuance are all included. Creating reports &nbsp

An Analysis on the Markovian Model for Production Management and Establishment of New Pharmacies Using Hyper Graph

Stochastic models are mainly used to rectify the real‐life problems in different areas of the busy world such as marketing, trading, networking, communicating media, and challenging biomedical inventions, for the survival of mankind. Any business which runs on the basis of getting more profit with less investment includes all the resources for production and the man power too, during the current century. To bring the equality in business gain and man power, many stochastic models have been introduced since the 1940s. The different states and the steady state probabilities are discussed by the Markov models to overcome the insufficiency of man power. An Iterative Hidden Markov Model has been introduced for effective production by considering the observable states depend on hidden states under the circumstances of real‐world probabilities are known and unknown. This paper mainly deals with the various machines, pharmacies, and different methods, namely, Nonadjacency Search Method and Adjacency Search Method applied through the Hyper graph. Comparison made between Nonadjacency Search Method and Adjacency Search Method through hyper assignments using cliques helps us to obtain tremendous profit through effective production and to start new pharmacies, instead of predictions through computational methods. Results were discussed based on the information obtained from Apollo pharmacies.

Availability, Prices and Affordability of Glaucoma Medicines among Private Pharmacies of Nampula City in Mozambique

Introduction: Glaucoma is a group of chronically progressive disorders of the optic nerve and a worldwide leading cause of irreversible vision loss. Eye chronic diseases including glaucoma are major public health problems around the world, rapidly increasing with a growing and aging population. The treatment of chronic diseases lasts a lifetime. The purpose of this study is to assess the availability, prices and affordability of the medicines for glaucoma management in private pharmacies of Nampula City in Mozambique. Material and Methods: The standardized methodology designed by the World Health Organization and Health Action International was employed to conduct the study about the availability, price and affordability of glaucoma medicines in Nampula City from October to November 2021. Data were collected in 39 private pharmacies using a survey with fifteen glaucoma Medicines. Results: The Average of medicines availability was 46.6% (0.0% - 71.8%) with a mean of 8.86. The availability level demonstrated that 14 (93.3%) of all surveyed glaucoma medicines were very low and 1 (6.67%) was fairly high. Timolol was the most available medicine, found in 28 (71.8%) while apraclonidine, carteolol, levobunolol, carbachol, brinzolamide, bimatoprost, travoprost and unoprostone were not available. The medicine with the lowest price was latanoprost (2.84 USD) and the higher was acetazolamide (23.58 USD). None of the surveyed medicines were considered affordable. Conclusion: The majority of surveyed glaucoma medicines were not available and they were totally unaffordable against the defined thresholds. Policy strategy and technical options should be driven and implemented by the government to ensure the availability and affordability of glaucoma medicines at various levels of the Mozambican healthcare system.

Case-based learning: psoriasis management in community pharmacy

Previously regarded as a skin condition, psoriasis is now best described as a complex, multifactorial inflammatory disease. It is thought to affect 2–4% of Western populations, including the UK, and although the condition is not life-threatening, it is associated with a significant impairment to quality of life, impacting work, family and sexual relations, as well […]

Provider and Staff Responses to Non-Facility Specific Patient Experience Feedback with Post-Acute Care Transitions

While a large portion of efforts related to improving patient experience, reducing medical errors, and improving clinical outcomes have focused on acute care settings, improvements in the quality of post-acute care and patient experience with transitions from general acute care settings to post-acute levels of care are key to accomplishing population health goals. While patient experience surveys are utilized nationwide, there is evidence of a need for deliberate efforts to create and implement recommendations derived from analyzing patient experience data with healthcare staff and providers. In 2019, 14 focus group sessions were conducted with providers and staff, including nursing, pharmacy, therapy, and case management from skilled nursing facilities, long-term acute care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. To minimize bias while studying reactions to patient comments regarding care transitions, participants from different facilities were placed into groups together and provided de-identified patient comments to review and discuss key themes and potential solutions. Attribution, discourse, and summative content analyses were performed to identify the key themes. A framework was developed to understand provider and staff reactions to non-facility-specific patient experience feedback as well as recommendations for improving post-acute care transitions

Assessing the Workplace Cyberloafing Behavior among Pharmacists in Pakistan.

After the commencement of the Internet and the popularity of various electronic devices, cyberloafing has become prevalent in the workplace regardless of professional type, demographic characteristics, and country. Individuals use the Internet for work-irrelevant purposes during work hours, which is believed to have a controversial role in work productivity. However, rare studies have paid attention to the prevalence of cyberloafing behavior among Pakistan pharmacists. Considering pharmacists' essential role in the health sector, this study investigates the prevalence of cyberloafing activities among workplace pharmacists in Pakistan. This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 242 registered pharmacists in Pakistan between October 2021 and February 2022 with a structured self-administered online questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 200 valid responses after screening. Data were processed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses. Pearson Chi-square analysis was also used to test the correlation between factors. Descriptive analysis shows that pharmacists spend more time on sharing-related activities and least on gambling/gaming-related activities in the workplace. All the items' Cronbach's alpha values range from 0.923 to 0.927. The analysis indicates that (60%) pharmacists have intermediate Internet skills. The results also suggest that age, Internet usage, and work area have a strong relationship with cyberloafing behaviors which also, in turn, are linked with their perceived Internet skills. This study has important practical implications for pharmacy management in Pakistan. Cyberloafing behavior is prevalent among Pakistan pharmacists. Our findings could inspire how managers and all other relevant stakeholders could improve the pharmacy system in Pakistan.

Florida health system looks back on COVID-19 challenges, successes.

Nearly 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmacy team at Memorial Health System in Florida is looking back on challenges met and opportunities seized to better serve patients. “We really looked at opportunities for us to establish new pharmacy services to help us maintain the quality of care,” said Dovena Lazaridis, clinical pharmacy manager for population health and transitions pharmacy services. Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer Dorinda Segovia said the health system launched an outpatient telehealth pharmacy center in the early days of the pandemic to support education and transitional care for patients with complex conditions. One of the first things the pharmacy team learned through telehealth was that many patients were struggling to afford their medications. “Through the telehealth model, [we could] really talk with them and help with medication access. The team was really engaged in helping patients with coupons and issues with program enrollment,” Segovia...

Implementing interactive hiring activity in pharmacy management education

Background and purposeA major element of management is the process of hiring employees. The purpose of this brief is to describe the implementation of a human resources learning activity asking students to choose an employee to hire, describe student responses, and explore student perspectives of the activity. Educational activity and settingAn interactive hiring activity was presented to third-year students (n = 386) at two different institutions, with varied classroom settings. Students were provided with candidates' curricula vitae and then completed a student-led interview using scripted questions presented in a PowerPoint format. The activity asked students to hire one candidate from five qualified candidates of varying backgrounds and traits. A Qualtrics survey collected students' individual hiring choice, hiring rationale, participant demographic information, and activity perceptions. Demographics and candidate choice were assessed using descriptive analysis. Open-ended answers were analyzed for frequency of terms, followed by a latent class analysis. FindingsOver 90% of students (n = 386) completed the post-activity survey. Demographic data between student cohorts varied, with only student age similar. Hired candidates differed by institution with one college expressing preference for a specific candidate and the other demonstrating a greater diversity of candidate preferences. Influencing factors on student choice were numerous. Overall, students reported a favorable experience with the activity. SummaryThis management hiring activity allowed students to engage in the practice-ready skills of hiring pharmacy technicians in an interactive classroom activity. This activity allowed the educators involved to develop hypotheses about student preferences in hiring for future study.

Prevalence of and incentives for board certification among hospital pharmacy departments in California.

Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) certification is endorsed to distinguish pharmacists for advanced practice areas, yet perceived value to stakeholders remains poorly described. This study characterized how board certification is integrated in hospital pharmacy departments across California. A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in which a survey was administered to all hospital pharmacy directors in California between November 2019 and March 2020. Licensed institutions and corresponding pharmacy directors were identified from the California State Board of Pharmacy. The survey queried for institution and pharmacy director characteristics and if/how board certification was integrated. Multivariable logistic models identified predictors of institutions with at least 25% full-time board certified pharmacists and those that reward board certification. Surveys were completed by 29% of institutions. Most of these institutions were urban (81%) and nonteaching (57%), with fewer than 325 hospital beds (71%), and with fewer than 50 full-time pharmacist positions (86%). The majority reported that less than 25% of their pharmacists were board certified. Currently, 47% consider board certification during hiring and 38% reward board certified employees. Predictors of institutions with 25% or more board certified pharmacists included being a teaching institution (odds ratio [OR], 2.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-7.06), having 325 or more beds (OR, 7.17; 95% CI, 2.86-17.97), and having a pharmacy director who was previously or currently board certified (OR, 3.69; 95% CI, 1.46-9.35). Hospitals with 100 or more pharmacist positions predicted institutions that reward board certification (OR, 16.69; 95% CI, 1.78-156.86). Board certification was an employment preference for almost half of the hospital survey respondents in California. Institutions more likely to reward board certified pharmacists are larger, urban, and teaching hospitals and have pharmacy directors who have been board certified.

Assessing the impact of adding pharmacist management services to an existing discharge planning program on 30-day readmissions

BackgroundAlthough hospital readmission rates are declining nationally, avoidable readmissions remain a public health concern. Effective readmission interventions are multifaceted and include discharge planning and transition-of-care coordination. Clinical pharmacists are effective contributors to these processes, bringing expertise to discharge counseling, medication reconciliation, medication adherence, and postdischarge follow-up counseling. ObjectiveWe evaluated the impact of adding health plan clinical pharmacy management services to an existing discharge program on all-cause readmissions and postdischarge primary physician visits. MethodPharmacy management services by health plan clinical pharmacists of a large regional integrated delivery system were added to an existing optimal discharge planning (ODP) program. Criteria for eligibility for these pharmacists’ services included patients who prescribed a new maintenance medication after discharge, received a therapeutic substitution, had a previous discharge within 30 days, or were taking a high-risk medication. A retrospective, observational analysis of a subgroup of patients, who received the pharmacy management services as part of ODP, was performed using a difference-in-difference model, by comparing propensity-matched discharges from February 22, 2016, to January 31, 2017 (preprogram implementation) with discharges from February 22, 2017, to January 31, 2018 (implementation period), to estimate changes in 30-day readmission rates and postdischarge primary physician visits. ResultsA total of 111 of the propensity matched received the pharmacy management services; of these, 73% (ODP) versus 64% (non-ODP) were ≥58 years, 60% were females, and 62% (ODP) versus 52% (non-ODP) were Medicare beneficiaries. There was a 16.7% (P = 0.022) statistically significant reduction in combined inpatient and observation 30-day readmissions and a 19.7% increase in 5-day postdischarge follow-up physician visits (P = 0.037) for the subgroup who also received the pharmacy management services. ConclusionAddition of pharmacist management services to an existing hospital discharge program for select at-risk patients was associated with reduced inpatient and observation 30-day readmissions.

PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY OF CASE-STUDY IN TRAINING ON MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING IN PHARMACY IN THE PROCESS OF FORMATION OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION

The article substantiates the application of pedagogical innovation and case-study technology in training in management and marketing in pharmacy in the process of forming the professional competence of future masters in higher education institutions.
 Professional training of masters of the pharmaceutical industry in higher education institutions should be aimed at ensuring the formation of their professional competence for successful professional self-realization of the individual in today's labor market.
 The strategic landmark of our country's development - European integration determines the modernization of Ukraine's higher education system, which includes modernization processes and improvement of higher pharmaceutical education, in accordance with social conditionality and labor market demands, optimization of integration processes, adaptation to the European pharmaceutical market and labor market. New demands of the pharmaceutical market lead to the improvement of the system of professional training of future specialists in the pharmaceutical industry in higher education institutions on the basis of the competence approach and their readiness to perform professional competencies.
 It is established that the modernization of educational processes in the training of future masters of the pharmaceutical industry requires the introduction of sectoral and educational innovations and technologies that will ensure their competitiveness in the modern labor market and further development of the pharmaceutical industry in terms of European integration.
 Cases of professional-pharmaceutical model situations and level diagnostic packages of tests have been developed, which in complex use provides an opportunity to assess students' academic achievements and diagnose the level of professional competence, readiness to implement professional competencies in management and marketing in pharmacy.
 A systematic analysis and differential assessment of the formation of professional competence and readiness to implement professional pharmaceutical competencies and research competencies of future masters in applied industry research in management and marketing in pharmacy based on students solving professional-pharmaceutical model situations and test tasks diagnostic packages.

The evaluation of mandatory alerts on long-acting opioid prescriptions and the use of a community pharmacy naloxone protocol

BackgroundOpioid overdose deaths accounted for approximately 69.5% of the total drug overdoses in the United States in 2018. In the same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that around 9 million opportunities to dispense naloxone to high-risk patients were missed. Community pharmacists are equipped to help all patients obtain naloxone to prevent opioid-related overdoses. ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to determine the impact of mandatory alerts on the dispensing of naloxone by pharmacists using a physician-approved protocol. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the change in the number of dispensed naloxone prescriptions via physician-approved protocol compared with the same time period in the previous year. The secondary objective was to evaluate the pharmacists’ knowledge and confidence dispensing naloxone via physician-approved protocol. Practice descriptionA system-generated mandatory alert that prompted pharmacists to assess the need for naloxone and initiate and dispense as appropriate via a physician-approved protocol was implemented in 5 pharmacies of a large community pharmacy chain between June and July 2020. Practice innovationA technology enhancement was designed that automatically created a mandatory alert in the pharmacy management system for all patients who were dispensed a long-acting opioid medication to prompt pharmacists to initiate and dispense naloxone as appropriate. Evaluation methodsThe impact of the mandatory alert was evaluated by assessing patients’ medication fill history in the pharmacy management system to determine the change in naloxone prescriptions dispensed. ResultsDuring the intervention period, pharmacists initiated and dispensed 34 incremental naloxone prescriptions via a physician-approved protocol compared with the same time period in the previous year. ConclusionThe results illustrated that system-generated mandatory alerts prompting pharmacist intervention can effectively increase pharmacist utilization of a physician-approved protocol, resulting in increased naloxone prescriptions dispensed to high-risk patients.