Table 1.
Pharmacists’ perspective towards repeat prescription process.
| Sections with its questions | Frequency | Percentage % |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacist location, department, and career position: | ||
| Profession: | ||
| Pharmacist | 33 | 97.06 |
| Clinical pharmacist | 1 | 2.94 |
| Pharmacy department: | ||
| Outpatient | 30 | 88.23 |
| Out-&In-patient | 4 | 11.77 |
| Institution: | ||
| KKUH | 26 | 76.47 |
| KAUH | 8 | 23.53 |
| Patterns of repeating prescription in terms of average number, behavior of patients, presence of issues | ||
| Average number of repeat prescriptions received by pharmacy per week: | ||
| Once a day | 0 | 0 |
| 2–4 times a day | 2 | 5.88 |
| 5–7 times a day | 4 | 11.76 |
| 8–10 time a day | 0 | 0 |
| More than 10 a day | 28 | 82.35 |
| When do patients come to request repeat prescription? | ||
| At the time of refill | 8 | 18.18 |
| Before one month | 15 | 34.09 |
| After the medication supply has finished | 19 | 43.18 |
| While dispensing repeat prescriptions, have you encountered any issues? | ||
| Yes | 30 | 88.23 |
| No | 4 | 2.94 |
| Type of issues usually encountered: | ||
| Therapeutic duplication | 19 | 11.66 |
| Dose changed but prescribed the old | 22 | 13.5 |
| Refilling a stopped medication | 23 | 14.11 |
| Running out of medications early | 18 | 11.4 |
| Accidentally missed refilling | 17 | 10.43 |
| Frequency changed | 7 | 4.29 |
| Formulation changed | 2 | 1.23 |
| Route changed | 2 | 1.23 |
| Switched medications | 10 | 6.13 |
| Refilling all medications regardless of needs | 22 | 13.5 |
| Refilling restricted medication | 15 | 9.2 |
| I have not encountered any issues | 1 | 0.61 |
| Others | 5 | 3.07 |
| Pharmacists perspective and reaction towards the repeat prescription process and its associated issues | ||
| How often do you face the same issue per week while dispensing repeat Rx? | ||
| None | 0 | 0 |
| 1–2 times per week | 5 | 14.71 |
| 3–5 times per week | 14 | 41.18 |
| 7–10 times per week | 8 | 23.53 |
| More than 10 times per week | 7 | 20.59 |
| As a pharmacist, have you ever had to ask the prescriber to clarify an order before filling repeat Rx? | ||
| Yes | 32 | 94.12 |
| No | 2 | 5.88 |
| Before filling repeat prescriptions, you usually: | ||
| Review patient's record | 22 | 30.99 |
| Perform medication reconciliation | 16 | 22.54 |
| Review lab results | 8 | 11.27 |
| Review current/past medication history | 20 | 28.17 |
| None | 3 | 4.23 |
| Others | 2 | 2.82 |
| What type of action you usually do resolve issues with repeat Rx? | ||
| Fill out a report | 7 | 11.11 |
| Call the prescriber | 27 | 42.86 |
| Discuss with another pharmacist or HCP | 16 | 25.4 |
| Write an intervention in patient file | 12 | 19.05 |
| Do nothing | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 1 | 1.54 |
| When issues are encountered, do the pharmacy\refill clinic make any changes to avoid similar issues in the future? | ||
| Yes | 8 | 23.53 |
| No | 26 | 76.47 |
| Did issues get resolved? | ||
| No issues get resolved | 0 | 0 |
| Only 20% | 6 | 18.75 |
| Only 30% | 5 | 15.63 |
| Only 50% | 8 | 25 |
| Only 70% | 8 | 25 |
| All issues get resolved | 5 | 15.63 |
| As a pharmacist, you try to modify the work process to reduce issues. | ||
| Yes | 30 | 88.24 |
| No | 0 | 0 |
| Neither | 4 | 11.76 |
| If you were given the opportunity to improve the system of repeat dispensing, what would you do? | Opinions for these open-ended questions mentioned in the result section | |
| Can you provide suggestions aiming to improve or limit the issues of repeat prescription process? | ||