Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prescription and transcription processes in hospital settings in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. Method: A customized version of the original American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) survey was distributed to a total of 26 hospitals in Jeddah city that fits our criteria starting from December 2017. Hospitals’ names were adopted from the Ministry of Health and Jeddah Municipality websites. All questionnaires were collected in June 2018. After that, they were classified according to the type of care provided by the hospital, size, ownership, teaching affiliation, and accreditation. Data were entered electronically using Google forms, and then Microsoft Excel was used to conduct descriptive statistics. Results: The survey had a response rate of 57%. A strict formulary system was adopted in 53.3% of hospitals, and clinical practice guidelines were used to optimize medication use in 86.7% of hospitals. Pharmacists do not have the authority to write medication orders in about 86.7% of hospitals and only 40.0% of hospitals have pharmacists routinely assigned to patient care units. However, Pharmacists actively provided consultation, mostly in drug information (80.0%). Computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) is used to receive medication orders electronically in 80.0% of hospitals, and electronic health record (EHR) is used in about 53.3% of hospitals and 50.0% of those hospitals have pharmacists who document their clinical intervention in EHR. Conclusion: Survey results suggest that pharmacists in hospital settings have not yet been positioned to improve the prescribing and transcribing components of the medication-use process.

Purpose: To evaluate the dispensing and administration processes in hospital settings in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. Method: A questionnaire based on the annual ASHP national survey was distributed among 35 hospitals. The response rate was 60%. After a follow-up period of 6 months, the final questionnaire was collected in November 2019. Result: The survey had a 60% response rate. Most surveyed hospitals have centralized pharmacies (76.2%). Few hospitals reported the use of the Bar Code Medication Administration BCMA system (19.0%) to verify doses during dispensing, and only 28.6% use automated dispensing cabinets. The main method to check unit doses in pharmacies is the “technician fills/pharmacist checks” method, as reported by 76.2% of hospitals. Conclusion: The new technologies in the field of healthcare are impacting the practice of medication distribution. Hospital pharmacies in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia are implementing many changes to improve the medication-use system. However, more work has to be done to follow the leaders in the area of pharmacy practice.