| Abstract [eng] |
Aim of research. To find out and evaluate the opinion of pharmacists and patients about purchasing medicines remotely. Research tasks. To find out whether remote distribution pharmacies are acceptable to community pharmacists and patients. To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing medicines online, based on the opinions of community pharmacists and patients. To evaluate the factors that may lead to the future acceptance of distance selling of medicines by patients and community pharmacists. Methods. The method chosen for the empirical study is quantitative anonymous questionnaire survey. A non-probability sampling, a convenience sample, was chosen for the study. The research sample consisted of 213 respondent questionnaires (126 patients and 87 pharmacists). A non-probability sampling, a convenience sample was chosen for the study, therefore the Chi-square (χ2) test was not used, and the conducted study was a pilot study. Research participants. The participants of the study are randomly selected patients and community pharmacists. Age of patients is from 18 years. Results of research. During the study, 87 pharmacists' and 126 patients' questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Most of the patient survey respondents were women (84.9%; N = 107), the rest were men (15.1%; N = 19). The vast majority (55.6%; N = 70) of patients had a college degree, 19.8% (N = 25) had less than a college degree, 14.3% (N = 18) had completed high school, and 10.3% (N = 13) – vocational school. 30.2% (N = 38) of respondents use remote distribution pharmacies once a month, 27.8% (N = 35) do not use them at all, 21.4% (N = 27) use them once every six months, 14.3% ( N = 18) once a year or less often, 5.6% (N = 7) once a week, and 0.8% (N = 1) even several times a week. 54.5% (N = 48) of the surveyed pharmacists agree that distance dispensing of prescription drugs is a useful feature, while 45.5% (N = 40) disagree. Among the patients, 88.9% (N = 112) believe that this is an effective innovation and only 11.1% (N = 14) think otherwise. 31.8% (N = 28) of the pharmacist survey respondents recommend the purchase of medicinal products in distance distribution pharmacies to their friends and relatives, 46.6% (N = 41) do not recommend, and the rest (21.6%; N = 19) do not opinions. In the patient sample, 63.5% (N = 80) recommend, only 4% (N = 5) do not recommend, 32.5% (N = 41) have no opinion. Conclusions. 1. Summarizing the results of the study, it can be said that remote distribution pharmacies are more acceptable to patients than to pharmacists. In such pharmacies, patients mainly purchase nutritional supplements and over-the-counter medicines. 2. According to the respondents, remote distribution pharmacies have a number of advantages, but they also have disadvantages: there is a lack of clearer and more detailed information on the use of drugs, the possibility of checking the compatibility of drugs or herbal preparations, the necessary skills in using information technology, and the quality assurance of the pharmaceutical service can be significant more complicated and of lower quality compared to when the consultation is carried out live. 3. Evaluating the future prospects, it can be said that a more acceptable attitude of pharmacists and patients to the remote dispensing of medicines would be formed by the further improvement of smart information technologies of remote distribution pharmacies and the introduction of new, innovative and useful functions for pharmacists and patients. |
