Abstract
Objectives : The purpose of our research was to clarify concrete problems and to offer suggestions for pharmacists to improve medical effects.
Subjects and methods : Subjects were selected from community pharmacy members of the A. Municipal Pharmacists Association. Of 238 pharmacies contacted, 191 responded, and of 441 pharmacists working for the responding pharmacies, 391 responded (recovery rate : 88.7%). The survey was conducted between October and November 1996. A questionnaire was distributed to each pharmacist and completed questionnaires were collected.
Results : Some differences in managing patients' medication histories and instructing drug use were noted between individual pharmacies. The pharmacists who mainly engaged in filling prescriptions at dispensing pharmacies filled out many items in a patients' medication log although the items did not necessarily ensure improved medical outcomes. When instructing drug use, the patients' medication records were utilized, but the pharmacist sometimes failed to understand information such as the patients' symptoms due to lack of medical expertise.
Pharmacists who mainly engaged in selling medicine at pharmacies and who engaged in both filling prescriptions and selling medicine managed patients' medication records poorly. More effective methods of using patients' medication histories should be developed in the future.
Conclusions : Pharmacists must avoid differentials in pharmaceutical practices in different pharmacies to ensure better outcomes with separate systems of prescribing and dispensing. Our study showed that key areas must be improved, such as thorough implementation of keeping medication records, establishing ways to effectively assess the medication history, securing a system of obtaining up-to-date information and coordinating better relationships with other medical professionals. We suggest that appropriate training and education programs for pharmacists be reinforced and propose that a committee for interdisciplinary practices be used to achieve the desired goals.
