Patients' perception of the quality of community pharmacy services using the critical incident technique
Abstract
Background/Aim. The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) is a qualitative research method for measuring consumer satisfaction by collecting and analyzing information on participants and their activities. This method allows participants to present their detailed experiences related to a particular service in the way they perceive them. The aim of this study was to examine patients' perceptions of an incident that occurred in community pharmacies using CIT and determine recommendations for improving the quality of pharmacy services. Methods. A qualitative study using an interview based on the CIT was conducted in three pharmacies in Serbia, on the territory of Kruševac city. The entire course of the interviews was audio-recorded, which provided detailed research. Results. A total of 68 critical incidents were collected and divided into two groups: positive (37) and negative (31), depending on the (dis)satisfaction of patients with the services of pharmacists in community pharmacies. The following thematic clusters of pharmacy services were covered: accessibility of community-based pharmaceutical services, pharmacist behavior, patient counseling, dispensing drugs and/or medical devices, compounding, and pharmacy sales/commercial practice. Conclusion. The results show that the CIT is a useful tool for evaluating and improving pharmaceutical services. Based on the data collected, various aspects of community pharmacy services can be improved, and further research should be carried out.
References
World Health Organization. Joint FIP/WHO guidelines on good pharmacy practice: standards for quality of pharmacy services. (2009). Resource document. [cited 2019 Mar 03]; Available from: https://www.fip.org/www/uploads/database
_file.php?id=331&table_id=.
Lau SR, Traulsen JM. Are we ready to accept the challenge? Addressing the shortcomings of contemporary qualitative health research. Res Social Adm Pharm 2017; 13(2): 332‒8.
Flanagan JC. The critical incident technique. Psychol Bull 1954; 51(4): 327‒58.
Gustafsson M, Wennerholm S, Fridlund B. Worries and concerns experienced by nurse specialists during inter-hospital trans-ports of critically ill patients: a critical incident study. Inten-sive Crit Care Nurs 2010; 26(3): 138‒45.
Emsfors Å, Christensson L, Elgán C. Nursing actions that create a sense of good nursing care in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration. J Clin Nurs 2017; 26(17‒18): 2680‒8.
Bailey C, Hewison A, Karasouli E, Staniszewska S, Munday D. Hospital care following emergency admission: a critical inci-dent case study of the experiences of patients with advanced lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. J Clin Nurs 2016; 25(15‒16): 2168‒79.
Scarton LA, Del Fiol G, Oakley-Girvan I, Gibson B, Logan R, Workman TE. Understanding cancer survivors' information needs and information-seeking behaviors for complementary and alternative medicine from short- to long-term survival: a mixed-methods study. J Med Libr Assoc 2018; 106(1): 87‒97.
Keers RN, Williams SD, Cooke J, Ashcroft DM. Understanding the Causes of Intravenous Medication Administration Errors in hospitals: A Qualitative Critical Incident Study. BMJ Open 2015; 5(3): e005948.
Hensing GK, Sverker AM, Leijon GS. Experienced dilemmas of everyday life in chronic neuropathic pain patients-results from a critical incident study. Scand J Caring Sci 2007; 21(2): 147‒54.
Karasouli E, Munday D, Bailey C, Staniszewska S, Hewison A, Griffiths F. Qualitative critical incident study of patients' ex-periences leading to emergency hospital admission with ad-vanced respiratory illness. BMJ Open 2016; 6(2): e009030.
Elvey R, Hassell K, Lewis P, Schafheutle E, Willis S, Harrison S. Patient-centred professionalism in pharmacy: values and be-haviours. J Health Organ Manag 2015; 29(3): 413‒30.
McMillan SS, Thangarajah T, Anderson C, Kelly F. Pharmacy student decision-making in over-the-counter medicine supply: A critical incident study. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2018; 14(8): 749‒57.
Irwin A, Laing C, Mearns K. The impact of patient aggression on community pharmacists: a critical incident study. Int J Pharm Pract 2013; 21(1): 20‒7.
Irwin A, Laing C, Mearns K. Dealing with aggressive metha-done patients in community pharmacy: a critical incident study. Res Social Adm Pharm 2012; 8(6): 542‒51.
Jones CEL, Phipps DL, Ashcroft DM. Understanding procedural violations using Safety-I and Safety-II: The case of community pharmacies. Saf Sci 2018; 105: 114‒20.
FitzGerald K, Seale NS, Kerins CA, McElvaney R. The critical incident technique: a useful tool for conducting qualitative re-search. J Dent Educ 2008; 72(3): 299‒304.
Institute of Medicine Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2001. [cited 2019 Oct 04]. Availa-ble from: https://doi.org/10.17226/10027.
Wiedenmayer K, Summers RS, Mackie CA, Gous AGS, Everard M, Tromp D. Developing pharmacy practice: a focus on pa-tient care. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, International Pharmaceutical Federation; 2006. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/69399
Pharmaceutical Chamber of Serbia (PCS). Good pharmacy practice: Role and importance in Serbian pharmaceutical. 2012. [cited 2019 Jan 28]. Available from: http://www.farmacija.
org/dokumenti/predlog-dap-20120302[1].pdf.
Wanzer MB, Booth-Butterfield M, Gruber K. Perceptions of health care providers' communication: relationships between patient-centred communication and satisfaction. Health Commun 2004; 16(3): 363‒83.