Technology-enabled community pharmacies: qualitative evaluation of a framework for assessing technology solutions.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Pharmacy Practice
• Technology Adoption

Background:

• Optimal pharmacist services depend on integrated digital health platforms.
• Existing technology evaluation frameworks lack specific application to community pharmacy ICT needs.
• The Technology Evaluation Key (TEK) framework needed adaptation for this context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify community pharmacists' information communication technology (ICT) needs.
• To refine the Technology Evaluation Key (TEK) framework using these identified needs.
• To guide the implementation and evaluation of ICT platforms in pharmacy practice.

Main Methods:

• Systematic scoping review and validation of interview tools.
• Semi-structured online interviews with 24 community pharmacists until data saturation.
• Reflexive thematic analysis applied deductively and inductively to refine the TEK framework.

Main Results:

• Key technological needs identified: greater system integration, interoperability, and user access to national ICT systems.
• The TEK framework was successfully refined from nine to eight domains.
• The refined framework includes domains such as healthcare system, organization, practitioner, ICT, user experience, logistics, system integrity, and clinical impact.

Conclusions:

• Significant improvements are needed in ICT platform implementation for community pharmacists.
• The refined TEK framework offers a valuable guide for ICT development, implementation, and evaluation in pharmacy.
• Addressing user needs is crucial for successful technology adoption in community pharmacy.