Unavailable prescriptions at Danish community pharmacies: A descriptive study

Background Handling of unavailable prescriptions, i.e. prescriptions missing on the online server, is considered troublesome and time-consuming by community pharmacy staff and may result in both patient dissatisfaction and non-compliance. Objective To describe the occurrence and reasons for unavaila...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of clinical pharmacy 2019-06, Vol.41 (3), p.672-676
Main Authors: Lundby, Carina, Nielsen, Anne Vejrum, Bendixen, Susanne, Almarsdóttir, Anna Birna, Pottegård, Anton
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chronic illnesses
Community Pharmacy Services - standards
Denmark - epidemiology
Drug Prescriptions - standards
Drug stores
Electronic Prescribing - standards
Female
Humans
Internal Medicine
Internet
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Nervous system
Patient Satisfaction
Patients
Pharmacists
Pharmacy
Prescriptions
Short Research Report
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Description
Summary:Background Handling of unavailable prescriptions, i.e. prescriptions missing on the online server, is considered troublesome and time-consuming by community pharmacy staff and may result in both patient dissatisfaction and non-compliance. Objective To describe the occurrence and reasons for unavailable prescriptions at Danish community pharmacies as well as the types of drugs involved. Method An online 11-item questionnaire was developed and distributed to 24 community pharmacies across Denmark which each collected data on unavailable prescriptions handled within a 3-week period. Results Out of 194,358 prescriptions dispensed during the study period, a total of 2765 (1.4%) unavailable prescriptions were registered. Of these, 51.1% (n = 1412) occurred when a patient expected a new prescription after having consulted a physician, most often the patient’s general practitioner (75.6%; n = 1067). Of all unavailable prescriptions, 68.1% (n = 1882) concerned prescriptions on regular drugs for treatment of a chronic condition, with the patient not having any medication left in 27.9% (n = 526) of these cases. Unavailable prescriptions most frequently concerned cardiovascular drugs (15.8%; n = 437) followed by nervous system drugs (14.4%; n = 399). Conclusion Unavailable prescriptions occur in approximately 1% of all dispensing at Danish community pharmacies. Miscommunication between the patient and general practitioner seems to be the primary source of unavailable prescriptions.
ISSN:2210-7703
2210-7711
DOI:10.1007/s11096-019-00831-5