The pharmacist's role in the Egyptian pharmaceutical market

Abstract

PurposePharmaceutical companies' marketing strategies have traditionally targeted only physicians and, more recently, consumers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the pharmacist as prescriber, influencer, switcher, and dispenser of pharmaceutical drugs in one developing country, Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed pharmacists in Cairo, Egypt. The pharmacists were asked to estimate the percentages of patients who came in with a prescription, with only a box or a recommendation for a medicine and with only symptoms, and whether he/she switched the patient to another medicine. Pharmacies were classified as to the social class of the pharmacy neighborhoods. Cluster analysis was used to further classify pharmacists as “Influencers” and “Non‐influencers”.FindingsOverall the pharmacists influence 39 percent of all purchase decisions for pharmaceuticals with higher levels of influence in lower social class neighborhoods. Approximately one out of four pharmacists was classified as an Influencer.Practical implicationsIn developing countries, the pharmacist plays a key role in which medicines patients ultimately purchase. Marketing activities directed toward the pharmacist may provide an important opportunity to maximize the pharmaceutical firms' return on marketing investment.Originality/valueFew studies have looked at the marketing of pharmaceutical drugs in developing countries. This paper is unique in that it examines the role of the pharmacist in these markets, thus providing an important addition to the understanding of the challenges to the industry in these countries and important implications for pharmaceutical marketing strategies.

Influence of pharmacists expertise on physicians prescription decisions

“…Expert power is based on the "influence's perception that the influencer has some special knowledge, information, or skills in a relevant area" [35]. It may be recognized that a pharmacist possesses itemized knowledge, information, skill, confidence, and power to control outcomes of the drug [1,36]. Semi-structured interview through purposive sampling was conducted with 17 GPs and 7 community pharmacists Results showed a minimal collaboration between physicians and pharmacist in terms of the extent to which they engaged decision-making Collaborative care between pharmacists and physicians, Doucett et al [3] (USA)…”

“…In recent years, the role of the pharmacist has turned from that of a dispenser to that of an influencer [1] and an active participant in decision-making during drug therapy [2].The report of WHO in 1997 highlighted new roles of the pharmacist as "as a caregiver, manager, decision-maker, leader, communicator, lifelong learner, and teacher" [1]. Over the years, the pharmacist's role has expanded to include opinion giving and consultations [3,4].…”

“…Over the years, the pharmacist's role has expanded to include opinion giving and consultations [3,4]. Nonetheless, these additional roles are often not well developed in developing countries [1] such as Yemen, where pharmacists play a major role in drug prescription [5]. Pharmacists generally provide information relating to drug prescription, which can often be difficult to source in developing nations [2].…”

“…The expertise of pharmacists makes them the most important source of knowledge on prescription decision-making [2,5,7], especially on drug interactions [1] and the movement of products of various competitors [8,9]. Evidence suggests that physicians are more likely to accept a pharmacist's recommendations regarding the prescription of a particular drug, in terms of potency and economic viability [10,11].…”

“…Unfortunately, poor collaboration between physicians and pharmacists has been recognized as a significant contributor towards inappropriate prescriptions [1]. This underscores the need for improved cooperation for optimal patient care [14].…”