Investigating the Role of Geriatrics Pharmacies in the Health care Supply Chain

Abstract

The health care system in Egypt is witnessing a complete reform with the aim of streamlining its supply chain to better serve the public. One of the challenging issues in the health care supply chain in Egypt is the demographic transition which shifted the age distribution in favor of an aging population. The percentage of adults over 60 in Egypt is increasing faster than that of any other age group. This consequently resulted in higher medical service demand in public hospitals. It was found that the absence of specialized pharmacies for the elderly patients in hospitals known as 'geriatrics' pharmacies, resulted in prescription errors and drug interactions. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the current status of the general pharmacies in public hospitals in Beni Swif governorate in Egypt, and exploring the opinions of pharmacists, doctors and patients in establishing specialized geriatrics pharmacies in public hospitals. This study follows an exploratory approach with the use of questionnaires for data collection. The results showed that establishing geriatrics pharmacies in public hospitals in Egypt would ensure the provision of a better medical service for the elderly and reduce prescription errors and drug interactions.