Patient attitudes towards a new role for pharmacists: continued dispensing

Abstract

BackgroundIn Australia, “continued dispensing” (CD) is a new model for supply of prescription medications. Under specific circumstances, community pharmacists are allowed to dispense a further one month supply of prescription only medications without a valid prescription. It allows continuation and treatment adherence when patients run out of statin and/or oral contraceptive (OC) medications, when it is not practical or they fail to plan accordingly to get a new prescription.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore patient attitudes towards a CD model, including any perceived concerns or associated risks with CD prior to its introduction.MethodsAn Australia-wide computer-assisted telephone interview survey of statin and OC users aged 18 years or older was conducted in July 2013 prior to implementation of the CD model. A telephone number list was generated via a random number generation function based on a broad breakdown of the Australian population as outlined in the June 2013 Australian Bureau of Statistics data. The sample target for the survey was 300, consisting of 150 statin users and 150 OC users.ResultsThere were a total of 301 respondents, comprising 151 statin users and 150 OC users. Approximately 37% of all respondents had experienced running out of their medications in the past 12 months, of whom 35.4% had temporarily stopped treatment and 33.6% requested their medication from a pharmacist without a valid prescription. OC users were more likely to run out of their medications (P=0.021). The majority of respondents had a regular pharmacy (86%) and therefore would be eligible for CD in the future. The majority of those surveyed had no concerns about CD or perceived it as posing no risks. Concerns raised included consultation privacy and the pharmacist’s lack of access to their medical records.ConclusionAustralian users of statin and OC medications showed a high level of support for CD. Given that a significant proportion of patients temporarily stopped treatment when they ran out of medications and had no valid prescription, implementation of CD may alleviate the negative consequences of therapy interruption in statin and OC users in the short term. Longer-term solutions and opportunities to expand CD require further exploration.

Continued Dispensing: What medications do patients believe should be available?

“…(Abukres et al 2014) Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) was used. Participants were interviewed using a questionnaire consisting of 38 closed ended questions, with the option 'other: please specify' for some questions.…”

“…(Abukres et al 2014) In brief, the sample included 301 participants predominately female (80.1%; n=241), the main age group was aged 31-40 years (17.3%; n= 52) and the smallest age group was 18-20 years (4.7 %; n= 14). Approximately, half of the sample were from the state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia (50.5%; n= 152).…”

“…Previous literature data suggests that CD eligible patients strongly supported this method. (Abukres et al 2014) The CD method currently may provide limited benefit to chronic disease sufferers as they are often on multiple medications. (Hughes 2005) Consequently, they may present to a pharmacy requesting a statin or an oral contraceptive as well as other medications which are currently not eligible for supply under the CD model.…”

“…a more convenient way for patients to obtain their medication in a timely manner, prevent treatment PrePrints contraceptive users, where the majority of the respondents did not perceive CD would pose any risks. (Abukres et al 2014) They also trusted their pharmacists to conduct CD only when it was safe to do so and that they would refer them to their doctor when needed. Furthermore, they thought pharmacists are more easily accessible than doctors; that CD would save their and their doctors' time, and it would help them to not miss any doses of their medications.…”

“…Furthermore, they thought pharmacists are more easily accessible than doctors; that CD would save their and their doctors' time, and it would help them to not miss any doses of their medications. (Abukres et al 2014) It is worth mentioning that the patients surveyed had no personal experience with CD as the study was conducted before the actual implementation of CD in Australia, so the results represent participates' perceptions rather than their actual experience.…”