Edita Babonienė, Laimutė Jonaitienė, Ona Ragažinskienė
Abstract
The article presents contemporary condition of the pharmaceutical service provided by the assistant of pharmacist in the community pharmacies in five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. In the year 2012 the research was carried out in 102 community pharmacies from Aukštaitija, Žemaitija, Dzūkija, Suvalkija and Lithuania Minor that were situated in the places strategically favorable for the sale of medication. 40% of community pharmacies employ only one assistant of pharmacist (pharmacy technician), while 21,6% of community pharmacies do not employ any assistants of pharmacist (pharmacy technicians). In order to improve the quality of the pharmaceutical service for people it is rational to increase the number of assistants of pharmacists (pharmacy technicians) in the community pharmacies. In the community pharmacies that do not belong to any pharmacy networks people buy 36% of prescription medication, 29,5% of non-prescription medication, 4,4% of extemporal medication, 29,7% of pharmacy goods. In the pharmacies that are part of some pharmaceutical network people tend to buy 28% of prescription medications, 25,5% of non-prescription medications and most of all (45%) pharmacy goods. The aim of the research: to analyze the pharmaceutical service provided by assistants of pharmacist (pharmacy technicians) in the sales of medication and pharmacy goods by identifying the frequency of their dispensing depending on the status of pharmacies. The research revealed that while providing pharmaceutical service the positive influence on the process would be made by the increase in the number of the assistants of pharmacist (pharmacy technicians) employed in the pharmacy. The major part of the sales turnover of medication and pharmacy goods is constituted by different pharmacy goods while the rest of the turnover comprises prescription and non-prescription medication. The direction of the pharmaceutical service provided by assistants of pharmacist (pharmacy technicians) towards the sales of pharmacy goods would enable the pharmacists to give more time for the consultations of customers and the advisory activities in the area of health improvement.
Article in Lithuanian
doi:10.5200/sm-hs.2012.123
Keyword(s): pharmacist; assistants of pharmacists; pharmaceutical service; prescription medication; non-prescription medication; pharmaceutical goods; Lithuania
DOI: 10.5200/368
Full Text: PDF