Specialty of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Egyptian Russian University, Cairo, Egypt.
Specialty of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
J Pharm Pract. 2023 Aug;36(4):783-794. doi: 10.1177/08971900221074952. Epub 2022 Mar 24.
With the necessary skills available to community pharmacists, they are well equipped to relieve pressure on hospitals and general practices by providing referral services for symptomatic patients for COVID-19 testing. The assessment of potential barriers that limit the successful implementation of a community pharmacy referral service for patients with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. A questionnaire comprising of 100 questions was administered to one pharmacist by interview in 1023 working community pharmacies in 4 regions of Egypt between May 17 and May 30th 2020. Forty-five barriers were identified. Respondents (79%, n = 803) had difficulty obtaining an accurate patient history. Patient data confidentiality was a significant issue for pharmacists who had not received referral training, with these respondents being significantly (P = .010) less able to differentiate between COVID-19 and similar conditions. Respondents (68.8%, n = 698) were not confident in determining whether COVID-19 was the cause of the patient's presenting symptoms. A large majority (73.7%, n = 747) of respondents were worried about referring misdiagnosed patients and were concerned about the negative implications of proceeding with such a referral, including legal consequences. Of Respondents (71.7%, n = 727) reported that online referral was not easy, and 71.6% (n = 722) were unable to locate paper referral forms. Only a small number of pharmacists (11%, n = 112) preferred to report a referral in their own name. This study has demonstrated the potential of the community pharmacist's role as a point of referral for COVID-19 testing, and identified some major barriers to implementation of this. The lack of pharmacists' education, legal support, availability of referral forms, clarity of responsibility and unsupportive management teams are key obstacles that must be overcome for the successful implementation of a COVID-19 referral service.
具有社区药剂师所需的必要技能，他们能够通过为有 COVID-19 症状的患者提供检测转诊服务，为医院和全科医生减轻压力。评估限制成功实施针对疑似 COVID-19 症状患者的社区药房转诊服务的潜在障碍。在 2020 年 5 月 17 日至 30 日期间，在埃及 4 个地区的 1023 家工作社区药房中，通过访谈向一名药剂师发放了一份包含 100 个问题的问卷。确定了 45 个障碍。受访者（79%，n=803）难以获得准确的患者病史。对于未接受转诊培训的药剂师而言，患者数据保密性是一个重大问题，这些受访者在区分 COVID-19 和类似病症方面明显（P=0.010）能力较差。受访者（68.8%，n=698）不确定是否能确定 COVID-19 是患者出现症状的原因。绝大多数（73.7%，n=747）的受访者担心转诊误诊患者，并担心进行此类转诊的负面影响，包括法律后果。受访者（71.7%，n=727）报告在线转诊不方便，71.6%（n=722）无法找到纸质转诊表。只有少数药剂师（11%，n=112）更喜欢以自己的名义报告转诊。本研究表明了社区药剂师作为 COVID-19 检测转诊点的潜在作用，并确定了实施该服务的一些主要障碍。药剂师教育、法律支持、转诊表的可用性、责任明确性和不支持的管理团队的缺乏是必须克服的关键障碍，才能成功实施 COVID-19 转诊服务。
