Dispensing Practices of General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists in Malaysia–A Pilot Study

Objectives Simulated patient (SP) methodology (mystery shopping) is used increasingly to assess quality of pharmacy services, and evaluate impact of interventions. Our objective was to review papers reporting on the use of SP methodology in pharmacy practice research 2006-2016 in community pharmacies worldwide. Methods We searched EMBASE and MEDLINE for papers reporting on the use of mystery shopping in pharmacy settings, using a wide range of terms for SPs, based on previous review. We removed irrelevant papers, duplicates, papers not written in English, and review papers and reviewed remaining papers. Two reviewers carried out data abstraction, using the same tool as the previous review and inserting data into Excel, focusing on how the SP methodology is used. Key findings A total of 148 papers from 52 countries from all regions of the world were included in the review. A wide range of terms described the method, and simulated patient was the most common (49 papers). Most studies were cross-sectional (124), and most investigated only community pharmacies (115). The most common aim was to evaluate some aspect of pharmacists' or other staff's advice and counselling (94). Number of visits is 2-7785. Many papers did not cover details, such as number of visits planned, and carried out, scenario used, training and background of SPs, and ethical approval for the study. Conclusions The use of SP methodology has increased substantially in the field of pharmacy over the past decade. This is a useful method in a wide range of countries and settings. Greater detail is required in reporting.

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“…Chong described the same Australian study in two papers . Alabid et al . described aspects of the same Malaysian study in three papers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Out of the 1107 papers in the original search and two added due to quoting the 2006 review, 148 papers met the criteria . Extraction of relevant papers from those found by the search strategy was done jointly by two researchers (IB and PN) and independently by a third researcher (AA).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the use of simulated patient methodology in pharmacy practice research from 2006 to 2016

Björnsdóttir

Granås

Bradley

et al. 2019

International Journal of Pharmacy Practice

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“…Pharmacists seemed to concede that accommodating customers’ demands is the only pragmatic choice for survival 37. The widespread nature of this practice in developing countries suggests an inherent systemic flaw in prevailing pharmacy legislations, particularly the lack of dispensing separation 19,21,24. The need to constantly exercise professional judgment and conscience before dispensing may also be detrimental to the pharmacists, resulting in a mental toll that affect their enthusiasm for the profession 38…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in the management of community pharmacies in Malaysia

Kho¹,

Lim²,

Saleem³

2017

Pharm Pract (Granada)

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Background:The provision of professional pharmacy services by community pharmacists continues to be limited, particularly in low and middle income countries. It was postulated that multiple management challenges faced by community pharmacists contribute to this situation.Objective:The primary aim of the research was to determine the challenges faced in the management of community pharmacies in Sarawak (the largest state in Malaysia), and practical strategies to cope and overcome the challenges.Methods:Semi-structured interviews were carried out with community pharmacists practising in Sarawak. Purposive and snowball sampling were employed to ensure a diverse group of informants. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with the resultant data analysed using thematic analysis. Data collection, coding, interpretation were carried out iteratively until theoretical saturation.Results:Twenty respondents from different demographic characteristics were recruited. Six major themes were identified. Management challenges faced by community pharmacists traverse five major domains: market competition, legislative issues, customers’ knowledge and expectations, macroeconomic impacts and operational challenges. Most of these challenges require government intervention to be resolved. In the meantime, improving customer service and expanding the range of professional services were seen as the most viable strategies to cope with existing challenges. The main concern is that current legislative and economic landscape may hinder these strategies. Enactment of dispensing separation and more protective measures against market competition were suggested to alleviate the challenges faced.Conclusion:Numerous management challenges faced by community pharmacists that distract them from delivering professional pharmacy services have been highlighted. Urgent affirmative actions by the government are warranted in supporting community pharmacists to realise and maximise their potentials.

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“…11 In terms of disparity of drug pricing between community pharmacies and GPs, a recent study has revealed that there was a huge difference in pricing for common cold medicines between the two health care professionals. 13 Nevertheless, there was great gap between the community pharmacy and GPs toward the perception of current situation of intense competitive pharmaceutical price war, usage of generic medicines, and the disparities of medicine selling prices. In conjunction to the previous studies conducted with community pharmacists toward the issue of pharmaceutical price war, 5,14 this study aims to evaluate the perceptions of GPs toward issues of pharmaceutical price war, different bonus schemes provided by pharmaceutical companies, and to assess the selling prices of some prescription drugs, in order to portray a true picture of pharmaceutical pricing in Malaysia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of general practitioners towards pharmaceutical price war and assessment medicines price variation among general practitioners’ clinics in the state of Penang, Malaysia

Tan

Hassali

Alrasheedy

et al. 2014

Journal of Medical Marketing

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Background: Malaysian government has currently no drug pricing regulation. Therefore, drug prices are determined by the market force. In Malaysia, dispensing doctors have dual roles in prescribing and dispensing medicines to patients. General practitioners in private clinics are legally permitted to dispense prescription drugs to their patients. Consequently, general practitioners and community pharmacists play a similar functional role in dispensing medicines to patients because system of dispensing separation is still lacking. This study aims to evaluate the perceptions of general practitioners toward issues of pharmaceutical price war, different bonus schemes provided by pharmaceutical companies, and to assess the selling prices of some prescription drugs. Method: This study is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Mail survey methodology was adopted in this study to elicit the information of perceptions of general practitioner toward pharmaceutical price war and the selling prices of the top 5 most common Group B prescription drugs in Malaysia. The development of the questionnaire was informed by previous studies Hassali et al. and Tan. All statistical analysis had been performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17.0. Results: Of the 40 responses, (68%) were male participants. Forty percent of the respondents prescribed more than 40 prescriptions per day. Majority of the respondents (60%) strongly agreed that community pharmacies have created the phenomenon of pharmaceutical price war. And almost half of the respondents (45%) agreed that it is reasonable to have different bonus schemes based on the quantities ordered for pharmaceutical products. The price of PlavixÕ (Clopidogrel) has the highest variation among the prescription drugs (Ringgit Malaysia 94.0 AE 20.3). LipitorÕ (Atorvastatin) has the least variation among the innovator drugs (Ringgit Malaysia 40.0 AE 1.6). Conclusion: In order to preserve the viability of community pharmacies and general practitioners in the country, the authorities should monitor medicine prices especially at the private sector to ensure affordability and to ensure pricing of medicines are appropriate.

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Dispensing Practices of General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists in Malaysia–A Pilot Study

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

A systematic review of the use of simulated patient methodology in pharmacy practice research from 2006 to 2016

A systematic review of the use of simulated patient methodology in pharmacy practice research from 2006 to 2016

Challenges in the management of community pharmacies in Malaysia

Perceptions of general practitioners towards pharmaceutical price war and assessment medicines price variation among general practitioners’ clinics in the state of Penang, Malaysia

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