TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge, perceptions, and readiness of telepharmacy among community pharmacists
AU - Ahmed, Nehad J.
AU - Almalki, Ziyad S.
AU - Alsawadi, Asmaa H.
AU - Alturki, Abdulmohsen A.
AU - Bakarman, Abdulaziz H.
AU - Almuaddi, Alwaleed M.
AU - Alshahrani, Saeed M.
AU - Alanazi, Meshari B.
AU - Alshehri, Ahmed M.
AU - Albassam, Ahmed A.
AU - Abdulhai Fatani, Sarah
AU - Alahmari, Abdullah K.
AU - Aldosari, Saad A.
AU - Alamer, Ahmad A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Telepharmacy is a practical part of telemedicine that refers to providing pharmaceutical services within the scope of the pharmacist's obligations while maintaining a temporal and spatial distance between patients, users of health services, and healthcare professionals. The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted among community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia between March and May 2022 to assess their knowledge, perceptions, and readiness for telepharmacy. The survey was filled out by 404 respondents. The majority of respondents were male (59.90%) and the age of more than half of them was between 30 and 39 years old (54.46%). Most participants worked in urban areas (83.66%), and 42.57% had less than five years of experience in a pharmacy. Most participants agreed that telepharmacy is available in Saudi Arabia (82.67%). Approximately 70% of pharmacists felt that telepharmacy promotes patient medication adherence, and 77.72% agreed that telepharmacy increases patient access to pharmaceuticals in rural areas. More than 72% of pharmacists said they would work on telepharmacy initiatives in rural areas for free, and 74.26% said they would work outside of usual working hours if necessary. In the future, this research could aid in adopting full-fledged telepharmacy pharmaceutical care services in Saudi Arabia. It could also help academic initiatives by allowing telepharmacy practice models to be included as a topic course in the curriculum to prepare future pharmacists to deliver telepharmacy services.
AB - Telepharmacy is a practical part of telemedicine that refers to providing pharmaceutical services within the scope of the pharmacist's obligations while maintaining a temporal and spatial distance between patients, users of health services, and healthcare professionals. The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted among community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia between March and May 2022 to assess their knowledge, perceptions, and readiness for telepharmacy. The survey was filled out by 404 respondents. The majority of respondents were male (59.90%) and the age of more than half of them was between 30 and 39 years old (54.46%). Most participants worked in urban areas (83.66%), and 42.57% had less than five years of experience in a pharmacy. Most participants agreed that telepharmacy is available in Saudi Arabia (82.67%). Approximately 70% of pharmacists felt that telepharmacy promotes patient medication adherence, and 77.72% agreed that telepharmacy increases patient access to pharmaceuticals in rural areas. More than 72% of pharmacists said they would work on telepharmacy initiatives in rural areas for free, and 74.26% said they would work outside of usual working hours if necessary. In the future, this research could aid in adopting full-fledged telepharmacy pharmaceutical care services in Saudi Arabia. It could also help academic initiatives by allowing telepharmacy practice models to be included as a topic course in the curriculum to prepare future pharmacists to deliver telepharmacy services.
KW - Community pharmacists
KW - Knowledge
KW - Perceptions
KW - Readiness
KW - Telepharmacy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166952804&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsps.2023.101713
DO - 10.1016/j.jsps.2023.101713
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85166952804
SN - 1319-0164
VL - 31
JO - Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal
JF - Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal
IS - 9
M1 - 101713
ER -