Customer assessment of long-term care pharmacy provider services.
OBJECTIVE
Assess performance of long-term care pharmacy providers on key services offered to nursing facilities.


METHODS
Cross-sectional; nursing facility team.


METHODS
Random phone survey of nursing facility team members.


METHODS
485 nursing facility team members (practicing in nursing facilities, interacting with > or = 1 consultant pharmacist); 46 members excluded, unable to identify facility's pharmacy provider.


METHODS
Directors of nursing, medical directors, and administrators were asked to rate long-term care pharmacy provider performance of eight commonly offered pharmacy services.


METHODS
All groups evaluated pharmacy provider performance of these services using a five-point scale. Results are broken down by employer type.


RESULTS
Average rating for eight pharmacy services was 3.64. Top two services: "Labeling medications accurately" ranked in top 1-2 services for all groups (combined rating of 3.97) and "Provides medication administration system" ranked in top 1-3 services for all groups (combined rating of 3.95). One service, "Provides educational inservices," ranked lowest for all groups (combined rating of 3.54).


CONCLUSIONS
In general, when looking at the eight services in combination for all providers, all services were ranked between Good and Very Good (average score of 3.64). Therefore, while the pharmacy provider is performing above average for these services, there is room for improvement in all of these services. These results can be used as a benchmark. Detailed data results and sample surveys are available online at www.ascp.com/supplements. These surveys can be used by the pharmacy provider to solicit assessments from their own facilities on these services.
Clark
Thomas R
TR
American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Foundation, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3563, USA. tclark@ascp.com
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003253:Consultants; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States