Prevalence of technology applications in community pharmacies in Malaysia

Lua, Pei Lin and Umar Idris, Ibrahim (2015) Prevalence of technology applications in community pharmacies in Malaysia. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 7 (3). pp. 85-93. ISSN 0975-2366

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Abstract

Limited information exists on usage of communication technology in community pharmacies across Malaysia in the promotion of pharmaceutical care. This study determined the prevalence of technology applications in community pharmacies and identified important issue(s) to be included in My Electronic Personal Health Record Monitor (My-ePHRM) - a newly-proposed application for personal health record monitoring. It also examined relationships between technology usage and selected demographic characteristics of the pharmacists. Structured questionnaires were mailed to pharmacists across Malaysia (n = 245). Descriptive statistics and chisquare test were performed. Response rate was 31.4%. The mean age of the respondents was 35.5 ± 6.5 years with a range of 26-55 years. The sample consisted of mostly women (71.4%). About 61% of the respondents operate their pharmacy electronically but only 39.0% use technology in organising health records. More than half never had an online calendar (51.9%) and few have access to online drug prices (29.9%). In terms of online order/community retailers, only 23.4% always have access to the service. Electronic communication with patients regarding medication process was found to be significantly associated with age, gender, pharmacy location and outlet type (p<0.05). Medicine identification, administration, reminder, record/history, vital signs, possible side effect(s) and possible adverse drug reaction(s) were the most important issues for inclusion in MyePHRM (84.4% - 93.5%). In general, the prevalence of technology usage in community pharmacy was moderate. More usage of technology should be encouraged among pharmacists as this has the potential to improve pharmaceutical care delivery via electronic means.

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