title: Evaluation of Croatian community pharmacists' patient care competencies using the general level framework.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess Croatian community pharmacists' patient care competencies using the General Level Framework (GLF).
  
  
  METHODS
  The competencies of 100 community pharmacists working in 38 community pharmacies were evaluated using an adapted version of the GLF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pharmacists demonstrated the best performance in the competency areas drug specific issues and provision of drug products; the poorest performance was in the competency areas evaluation of outcomes and monitoring drug therapy. Pharmacists' behavior varied the most in the following areas: ensuring that the prescription is legal, prioritization of medication management problems, and identification of drug-drug interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Competencies were identified that need to be developed to improve pharmacist interventions in community settings. This study provides the first data on pharmacists' performance in Croatia and serves as a starting point for future studies and actions.
authors.affiliation: Atlantic FARMACIA, Zagreb, Croatia. arijana.mestrovic@atlantic.hr
authors.forename: Arijana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meštrović
authors.forename: Zivka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Staničić
authors.forename: Maja Ortner
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Hadžiabdić
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mucalo
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duggan
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bruno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D017523:Croatia; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005791:Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055815:Young Adult