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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Drugs Outcomes Research and Policies
Volume 16 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1554141
Exploring information technology utilization and needs in community pharmacies: A cross-sectional survey in Shanghai, China
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Pharmacy, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- 2 Department of Pharmacy, Community Health Service Center of Xinjing Town, Changning District, Shanghai, China
Background: Community pharmacists are critical in managing medication therapy and ensuring patient safety. However, in many countries, including China, challenges such as limited access to realtime patient data, fragmented communication systems, and underdeveloped clinical decision-support tools hinder the effectiveness of pharmacy services. Integrating information technology (IT) into community pharmacies can improve medication management by providing timely access to patient information, enhancing medication safety, and facilitating communication with healthcare providers.Objective: This study aimed to explore the medication management practices of community pharmacists, the existing IT support available, and their specific requirements for IT-assisted medication management in community pharmacies in Shanghai, China.Methods: An online self-assessment survey was conducted to evaluate the utilization and needs of ITbased medication management among community pharmacists in Shanghai. Demographic data and information on pharmaceutical care practices were collected and analyzed to examine correlations between these factors and the need for IT support.Results: 963 out of 2,178 surveys were completed over six months. Nearly all respondents (99.3%) provided at least one type of pharmaceutical care, but only 0.93% offered all types. Regarding current utilization and needs for IT systems, community pharmacists rated access to patient/medication information and digital standardized documentation flow as poor satisfaction with the highest level of needs. Multivariate regression analysis showed that IT needs were significantly associated with time 2 spent in clinical pharmacy practice, time dedicated exclusively to clinical pharmacy, and the number of prescriptions dispensed weekly.Conclusions: While community pharmacists are key in providing pharmaceutical care, IT support remains inadequate. There is a pressing need for an integrated IT system that offers real-time access to patient medical information, a standardized documentation system, improved clinical decision support software, and enhanced communication with other healthcare providers.
Keywords: Community pharmacist, Information Technology, pharmaceutical care, China, Survey
Received: 01 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Jin, Liao, Dai, Meng and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jie Meng, Department of Pharmacy, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
Ling Li, Department of Pharmacy, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.