Patients' Perspectives on Services Provided by Community Pharmacies in Terms of Patients' Perception and Satisfaction

Objective: To assess patients' perspectives towards community pharmacists as health care professionals by evaluating their performance in terms of patients' perception and satisfaction. Methods: Patients' perception and satisfaction are widely used healthcare direct pointers to evaluate Pharmaceutical health care services. To examine these two parameters, a questionnaire was developed, including statements to assess the patients' level of compatibility towards their community pharmaceutical care settings, along with their demographic data. The responses of patients' satisfaction and perception of pharmaceutical care settings were interpreted as percentages. Results: The responses of patient perception estimated that the pharmacist knows well how to use medication and warns about the dose or any problem in taking the medications before dispensing the medication. However, pharmacist is not an expert in suggesting treatment for minor ailments and he should not advise patients on general health issues other than drugs. Patients satisfied with the simple, clear and understandable language used by the pharmacist in discussing drug related issues and the kind of care and, kindness and respect in communication, nevertheless they least satisfied with the privacy maintained by pharmacist while discussing with patients and dispensing medications. Conclusion: Patients' expectations from pharmacists as successful therapists with decent communication profiles were positively evaluated. Paradoxically, other aspects such as the amount of time spent with each patient and general health issues advice did not meet our prospects, which clarify the need for a more solid pharmaceutical health care system to meet the potentials for full patients' perception and satisfaction.