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Research in Social & Administrative... Feb 2020Pharmacy technicians are vital to the operation of pharmacies, and national pharmacy associations have advocated for mandatory education and training requirements. While...
BACKGROUND
Pharmacy technicians are vital to the operation of pharmacies, and national pharmacy associations have advocated for mandatory education and training requirements. While these requirements may improve patient safety, there is a risk that laws and regulations which impose substantial education and training requirements on technicians could create barriers to entry which restrict the workforce and increase wages.
OBJECTIVE
This study has two objectives: 1) Describe changes in barriers to entry and wages over time; and 2) Evaluate the correlation between changing barriers to entry and pharmacy technician wages.
METHODS
Data come from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics from 1997 to 2017 and National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Surveys of Pharmacy Law from 1997 to 2014. A barrier to entry was defined as adoption of registration, licensure, or certification. Wage data was adjusted to 2017 dollars using the Consumer Price Index. Ordinary least squares regression evaluated the correlation between the proportion of states which had at least one barrier to entry and wages. An interrupted time series model estimated the impact of adopting a barrier to entry on the trend in technician wages over time.
RESULTS
Technician wages increased between 1997 and 2007 but remained flat between 2008 and 2017. A strong correlation was observed between the proportion of states which had at least one barrier to entry and technician wages (R2 = 0.93, p < 0.0001). However, the interrupted time series models did not identify any relationship between adoption of a barrier to entry and the trend in technician wages (p = 0.363).
CONCLUSIONS
This research suggests adoption of legal/regulatory barriers to entry did not have a significant influence on the trend in technician wages over time. More research is needed to evaluate the impact of barriers to entry on non-wage practice variables, such as privileges and satisfaction.
Topics: Certification; Government Regulation; Humans; Legislation, Pharmacy; Pharmacies; Pharmacy; Pharmacy Technicians; Salaries and Fringe Benefits
PubMed: 31118139
DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2019.05.003 -
American Journal of Health-system... Apr 2024The objective of this study was to understand at what level of the Autonomous Pharmacy Framework facilities are operating, in terms of the current state of data...
PURPOSE
The objective of this study was to understand at what level of the Autonomous Pharmacy Framework facilities are operating, in terms of the current state of data collection and analysis in the medication-use process, and to gather insights about systems integration and automation use.
METHODS
The Autonomous Pharmacy Advisory Board, a group of chief pharmacy officers and operational leaders, developed a self-assessment instrument based on the previously published Autonomous Pharmacy Framework, made the self-assessment instrument available via the internet, and reviewed respondents' self-reported results. The data collection period for the survey started in March of 2021 and ended in January of 2023.
RESULTS
A total of 119 facility-level self-assessments were completed and analyzed. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represented little or no data-driven automation with lots of manual tasks and 5 represented the utmost data-driven automation with few manual tasks, the average overall facility-level score was 2.77 (range, 1.38-4.41). Results revealed slight variance by facility bed capacity. Much more variation was found in the degrees to which individual facilities have automated core processes like inventory management, intravenous medication preparation, and financial reporting.
CONCLUSION
As a baseline, this automation-focused facility self-assessment suggests that for essentially all health-system pharmacy facilities and their larger organizations, a substantial body of work needs to be done to further develop and upgrade technology and practice in tandem, greatly expand data collection and analysis, and thereby achieve better operational, financial, and clinical outcomes. Significant advancements are needed to arrive at the highly reliable, highly automated, data-driven medication-use process involving few repetitive manual tasks envisioned in the Autonomous Pharmacy Framework.
Topics: Humans; Self-Assessment; Automation; Pharmacy Service, Hospital; Pharmacies; Pharmacy
PubMed: 38146919
DOI: 10.1093/ajhp/zxad329 -
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision... Aug 2020In recent years, online pharmacies have been accepted by increasingly more consumers, and the prospects for online pharmacies are optimistic. This article explores the...
BACKGROUND
In recent years, online pharmacies have been accepted by increasingly more consumers, and the prospects for online pharmacies are optimistic. This article explores the consumers' satisfaction factors addressed in Business to Customer (B2C) online pharmacy reviews and analyzes the sentiments expressed in the reviews. The goal of this work is to help B2C online pharmacy enterprises identify consumers' concerns, continuously improve the health services level.
METHODS
This article was based on the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model. From a third-party platform-based B2C online pharmacy and a proprietary B2C online pharmacy (JD Pharmacy and J1.COM, respectively), 136,630 pieces of over-the-counter (OTC) drug review data posted from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018 were selected as samples and used to explore the satisfaction factors of B2C online pharmacy consumers regarding the entire drug purchasing process. Then, the sentiments expressed in the drug reviews were analyzed with SnowNLP.
RESULT
Categorization of the 12 factors identified by LDA showed that 5 factors were related to logistics; these 5 factors, which also included the most drug reviews, made up 38.5% of the reviews. The number of factors related to drug prices was second, with 3 factors, and reviews of drug prices made up 25.5% of the reviews. Customer service and drug effects each had two related factors, and a smaller percentage of these reviews (13.95%) were related to drug effects. Consumers still maintain positive opinions of JD Pharmacy and J1.COM. However, some opinions on logistics and drug prices are expressed.
CONCLUSION
The most important task for online pharmacies is to improve logistics. It is better to develop self-built logistics. Both types of B2C online pharmacies can improve consumer viscosity by implementing marketing strategies. With regard to customer service, focusing on improving employees' service attitudes is necessary.
Topics: Commerce; Consumer Behavior; Humans; Personal Satisfaction; Pharmaceutical Services, Online; Pharmacies
PubMed: 32807175
DOI: 10.1186/s12911-020-01214-x -
PloS One 2018Limited studies have investigated geographic accessibility to a nearby community pharmacy for elderly which is an essential determinant of the access to medications and...
OBJECTIVES
Limited studies have investigated geographic accessibility to a nearby community pharmacy for elderly which is an essential determinant of the access to medications and pharmacy services. This research identified pharmacy deserts and investigated availability of different types of community pharmacies and their services for elderly enrolled in a State Pharmaceutical Assistance Program (SPAP).
METHODS
The state of Pennsylvania in the US was used as a case to demonstrate the geographic accessibility to community pharmacy and services for elderly enrolled in SPAP. The locations of community pharmacies and households of elderly enrolled in SPAP were derived from Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly programs' database. The street addresses were geocoded and the distance to a nearby community pharmacy was calculated for study sample using the haversine formula. The demographic and geographic data were aggregated to Census Tracts and pharmacy deserts were identified using the predefined criteria. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to determine whether there are statistical differences in the socio-demographic profiles and distribution of different types of community pharmacies and their services in pharmacy deserts and non-deserts. This research used hot spot analyses at county level to identify clusters of pharmacy deserts, areas with high concentration of different racial/ethnic groups and clusters of high densities of chain and independent pharmacies.
RESULTS
The Spatial analysis revealed that 39% and 61% Census Tracts in Pennsylvania were pharmacy deserts and non-deserts respectively (p < 0.001). Pharmacy deserts were found to have significantly more females, married and white elderly and fewer blacks and Hispanics compared to pharmacy non-deserts. Pharmacy deserts had significantly fewer chain and independent pharmacies and less delivery and 24-hour services in pharmacies than pharmacy non-deserts. Hot spot analyses showed that clusters of pharmacy deserts were more concentrated in southcentral, northwest and northeast regions of the state which represent rural areas and overlapped with clusters of high concentration of white individuals.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that urban-rural inequality, racial/ethnic disparity and differences in availability of pharmacies and their services exist between pharmacy deserts and non-deserts. The methodological approach and analyses used in this study can also be applied to other public health programs to evaluate the coverage and breadth of public health services.
Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Community Pharmacy Services; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Male; Medical Assistance; National Health Programs; Pennsylvania; Pharmacies; Rural Population; Socioeconomic Factors; Spatial Analysis; United States
PubMed: 29864159
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198173 -
Pharmaceutical Research Jun 2020Dossiers on approved pharmaceutical products must be kept updated and current during the products' life cycles. The coalition, merger and acquisition along with... (Review)
Review
Dossiers on approved pharmaceutical products must be kept updated and current during the products' life cycles. The coalition, merger and acquisition along with corporate strategy that pursues efficiency and profitability of pharmaceutical companies have led to the globalization of supply chains for pharmaceutical ingredients and instruments in the post-marketing phase, and progress in manufacturing technologies can improve manufacturing processes during this phase. Regulatory requirements for post-marketing management of pharmaceutical products sometimes differ among countries around the world depending on national/regional policies or situations, even though the basic concepts of each regulation are the same. Therefore, an understanding of up-to-date region specific regulatory management frameworks is important for the optimal provision of pharmaceutical products by pharmaceutical industries. The amendment of the Japanese Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act (Act No. 63 of 2019) was promulgated in December 2019, and will be enforced from September 2020 onwards. The amended Act sets out regulatory frameworks for post-marketing management systems, including inspection for good manufacturing practice of drugs, quasi-drugs, and gene-, cell-, and tissue-based products; and post-approval change-management protocols. Here, we review these new Japanese post-marketing management frameworks.
Topics: Drug Industry; Equipment and Supplies; Government Agencies; Health Policy; Humans; Japan; Marketing; Pharmacies; Total Quality Management
PubMed: 32514811
DOI: 10.1007/s11095-020-02845-5 -
Annales Pharmaceutiques Francaises Jan 2017Seasonal influenza is a major cause of excess winter deaths and increased hospital admissions. There is a high level of economic burden associated with the infection.... (Review)
Review
Seasonal influenza is a major cause of excess winter deaths and increased hospital admissions. There is a high level of economic burden associated with the infection. Although vaccination targets have been set to tackle this international issue, many countries struggle to reach these coverage targets for their at-risk populations using traditional delivery methods. Traditional providers include family doctors and nurses; however, pharmacist-led influenza vaccination has become a more commonly utilised aid to support vaccination targets. Community pharmacies are convenient and widely accessible and evaluations consistently demonstrate that patients are satisfied with pharmacist-led vaccinations. Allowing community pharmacists to administer influenza vaccination as an alternative option for delivery helps to increase the coverage rate of vaccination. In addition, commissioning community pharmacists to provide this service has been shown to contribute to achieving targets for those at-risk. Pharmacist-led influenza vaccination services can create value for payors and reduce pressure on health systems. This review aims to demonstrate the success of pharmacy-led influenza vaccinations, and the impact it has had in driving up immunisation rates within other countries. Experiences of countries such as England, Portugal and the United States provide evidence to demonstrate the benefit to both the patient and the health system.
Topics: France; Humans; Influenza Vaccines; Mass Vaccination; Pharmacies; Pharmacists; Vaccination
PubMed: 27717412
DOI: 10.1016/j.pharma.2016.08.005 -
Revue Medicale Suisse Apr 2016
Topics: Drug Information Services; Hospitals; Hospitals, University; Humans; Information Services; Pharmacies; Prescription Drugs; Switzerland
PubMed: 27276731
DOI: No ID Found -
JAMA Mar 2024
Topics: Consumer Behavior; Pharmacies; Direct-to-Consumer Advertising; Drug Industry
PubMed: 38412063
DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.2911 -
International Journal of Pharmaceutical... 2022Patients' responses to medical treatment vary greatly; while many may benefit from pharmacological therapy, others may suffer from harmful drug reactions or show no...
Patients' responses to medical treatment vary greatly; while many may benefit from pharmacological therapy, others may suffer from harmful drug reactions or show no response at all. To provide an effective individualized care, one must understand the elements that lead to varying patient outcomes and how these factors may interplay in an individual's treatment outcome. Pharmacogenomics is the future of pharmacy, and there is a growing demand for this service. Compounding pharmacies are already at the forefront of meeting patients' unique drug requirements. This gives them the opportunity to provide their patients with more valuable services than only selling drugs dictated by the formula! This article discusses pharmacogenomics as a competitive strategy for compounding pharmacies.
Topics: Humans; Pharmacies; Pharmacogenetics; Pharmacy; Pharmaceutical Services
PubMed: 36445766
DOI: No ID Found -
PloS One 2018This is the first exploration of service providers' attitudes and beliefs of quality and quality improvement in the community pharmacy setting in the UK.
INTRODUCTION
This is the first exploration of service providers' attitudes and beliefs of quality and quality improvement in the community pharmacy setting in the UK.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A series of interviews and focus groups was conducted with stakeholders from the pharmacy profession in the UK. Interviews were semi-structured and conducted face-to-face or by telephone. Focus groups were conducted with naturally-occurring groups i.e. at pharmacy conferences. Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed systematically using an interpretive approach.
RESULTS
Forty-two individuals participated across four focus groups and four interviews. A maximum variation sample was achieved in terms of pharmacist and pharmacy characteristics. Participants were generally positive about the need for quality and quality improvement and provided multifaceted and interlinked interpretations of quality and acknowledged its dynamic nature "quality moves forward". The challenge of standardising practice whilst providing person-centred care emerged: "you don't want to lose the personal touch, but you can't have people having a variable experience and one day it's fantastic and the next day it isn't". A variety of quality measurement methods were identified including direct observation (by internal and external agents) and feedback (mystery shoppers, colleagues, regulatory inspectors, service users), suggesting that standardisation was also needed in terms of future quality measurement. There was a tendency to report negative events as triggers for improvement. Future initiatives could adopt more positive approaches including positive deviants "There's nothing more powerful than people who've come up with something really good sharing it with their other colleagues".
DISCUSSION
The results are being used to develop and evaluate future quality improvement initiatives in this sector. These are likely to be targeted at organisational, team and individual levels.
Topics: Attitude of Health Personnel; Community Pharmacy Services; Female; Focus Groups; Humans; Male; Pharmacies; Pharmacists; Quality Improvement; United Kingdom
PubMed: 30036368
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200610