title: Patient-provider communication about medication use at the community pharmacy counter.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objectives of this study were to, first, describe the information exchanged between pharmacy staff and patients about prescribed medication at the community pharmacy counter, and second, to investigate to what extent this met professional medication counselling guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pharmaceutical encounters were videotaped in four community pharmacies in the Netherlands. Patients were included if they collected a prescription for their own use. An observation protocol, including the MEDICODE checklist, was used to analyse the video recordings. A distinction was made between first and repeat prescriptions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred fifty-three encounters were videotaped. When dispensing first prescriptions, pharmacy staff provided most information on instructions how to use the medication (83.3%), form of the medication (71.4%) and treatment duration (42.9%). Topics for repeat prescriptions (such as the effects of the medication and the incidence of observed adverse effects) were rarely discussed. Pharmacy staff rarely encouraged patients to ask questions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmacy staff members provided little medication-related information at the counter, especially for repeat prescriptions, did not encourage active patient participation, and thereby did not adhere to the guidelines of their professional organisation. Further research is needed to understand the reasons for this.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, NIVEL, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marloes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.affiliation: UPPER, Division Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lyda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Blom
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, NIVEL, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|College for Health Insurances, CVZ, Diemen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koopman
authors.affiliation: UPPER, Division Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Philbert
authors.affiliation: UPPER, Division Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koster
authors.affiliation: UPPER, Division Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvy
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, NIVEL, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Liset
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Dijk
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: community pharmacy; health-care provider-patient communication; observational study; patient-centred communication; the Netherlands