Abstract
Background:
The Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information has been mandated to build a provincial Health Information Network (HIN). Phase I, Unique Personal Identifier/Client Registry, is complete. Phase II, the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Network (Pharmacy Network), will provide integration among community and institutional pharmacies, the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program, hospital emergency rooms, and physician offices. This study was carried out to determine community pharmacists' perceived value of a pharmacy network pre-implementation.
Methods:
A four-part questionnaire was designed using a literature review and a pilot study. In December 2002, questionnaires were mailed to all 435 community pharmacists in the province.
Results:
Overall, 90.3% of community pharmacists agreed that drug utilization review would be an important function of the Pharmacy Network. The perceived value of computerized physician order entry was high. Removing problems with illegible handwriting received the strongest support (97.2%). Payment for providing various levels of pharmaceutical care also received strong support. The perceived value of a pharmacy network differed among community pharmacists with respect to age, sex, education, years in practice, and place of business.
Conclusions:
The results contributed important baseline information about community pharmacists' expectations pre-implementation. They also provided benchmarks for future comparative studies that measure perceived value after implementation of the Pharmacy Network.
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