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Can we document the practice of dispensing? A systematic review
S Cerqueira Santos1, T C Boaventura1, K S S Rocha1
1Laboratory of Teaching and Research in Social Pharmacy (LEPFS), Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.
Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
|September 28, 2016
Summary
Pharmacist documentation of dispensing is crucial for evaluating clinical services and patient counseling impact. This systematic review highlights a need for standardized documentation and improved study designs in pharmacy practice research.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacy Practice
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Documentation of pharmacist activities, particularly dispensing, serves as a key process indicator for assessing the quality of clinical pharmacy services.
- It also facilitates the evaluation of the impact of patient counseling provided during the dispensing process.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically identify and critically assess existing studies focusing on pharmacist documentation within the dispensing workflow.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive systematic review was conducted, involving literature searches across major databases (PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, Lilacs).
- Keywords included 'counselling', 'dispensing', 'community pharmacy services', 'pharmacies', and 'pharmacists'.
- Study selection involved title, abstract, and full-text analysis, along with an assessment of methodological quality.
Main Results:
- Out of 26 selected articles, only a small number (3) specifically addressed documentation as part of the dispensing working process.
- A majority of studies (16) reported documentation practices using non-electronic systems.
- Key documented variables included patient information, drug therapy problems, and clinical interventions, with most studies (20) demonstrating the effects of documentation and (23) providing statistical evidence.
Conclusions:
- There is a notable scarcity of research focusing on documentation within the dispensing process.
- Future research should prioritize standardizing documentation practices and employing more rigorous study designs, such as multicenter studies, to enhance the evidence base in pharmacy practice.