Identifying patient needs in the context of the medication use situation

(1) To identify whether differences in the likelihood of using pharmacy services exist for consumers when faced with different medication use situations; (2) to identify differences in consumers' expectations of pharmacy services according to type of pharmacy; and (3) to determine whether a relationship exists between patient demographics and the likelihood of using different pharmacy services.

Consumers were provided a survey instrument consisting of four medication use situations that varied with the following: (1) new or previously used medication; (2) acute/chronic use; (3) self/dependent; (4) history/no history of adverse drug experiences; and (5) concomitant/no concomitant drug use. The respondents rated their likelihood of using three pharmacy services for each situation: (1) face-to-face communication with the pharmacist; (2) drug information leaflets; and (3) access to the pharmacist by telephone. Also, respondents were asked to indicate in which type of pharmacy they expect to find the three pharmacy services.

Respondents identified five different groups of situations for face-to-face communication and access to pharmacist by telephone, and six different groups of situations for the drug information leaflet service. Concomitant drug use and history of adverse drug effects were common situational characteristics for which consumers indicated the highest likelihood of using pharmacy services.

The context of prescription drug use must be accounted for in designing pharmacy services and in studying service quality from the patient perspective. The results provide evidence that consumers do desire different types of services, given the context in which they find themselves when they visit the pharmacy.