The role of community pharmacies in counseling of personal medical devices and drug-delivery products in Estonia

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the current situation on medical technology at community pharmacies in Estonia, looking into the availability, dispensing and counseling of personal medical devices/drug-delivery products (PMDs/DDPs) and related professional knowledge of community pharmacists. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study using an internet-based eFormular study platform. Results: In total, 137 community pharmacies responded to the study. Of the pharmacies, 51.8% dispensed and 32.1% counseled PMDs/DDPs several times a day. 55.4% of the respondents assessed their professional knowledge on PMDs/DDPs as good to medium and 44.6% as satisfactory to poor. Of the respondents, 79.6% reported a need for systematic education about named devices. Conclusion: Community pharmacies are a frequent source for the dispensing and counseling of PMDs/DDPs in Estonia. However, community pharmacists admitted a strong need for continuing education about general and practical aspects related to the use of PMDs/DDPs for the provision of more professional services in the future.

Keywords:

• community pharmacies
• counseling
• drug-delivery product
• personal medical device

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all Estonian community pharmacies who participated in the survey.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This research was supported by the European Social Fund’s Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa received by J Heinämäki. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Key issues

• According to the EU legislation, community pharmacies as a legal distribution source of medical devices have responsibility to provide full counseling and to assure safe and appropriate use of medical devices.

• Community pharmacies and community pharmacists are frequent and important source of information about personal medical devices and drug-delivery products in Estonia.

• More than half of the responded pharmacists self-assessed their professional knowledge about medical devices good to medium.

• However, the need for extended professional knowledge was the same among different age groups and was not related to the respondents’ professional experience or occupational position at the pharmacy.

• There is a strong need for education, training and lifelong learning among community pharmacists to face the implementation of new innovative medical technology products.

Notes