Prescriptions as quality indicators of pharmaceutical services in Polish community pharmacies

BACKGROUND: Assessment of community pharmacies’ quality of service is a very difficult task, resulting from the multiplicity and variety of provided services as well as patient-related factors (i.e. their health condition, expectations, education level or cultural and social background). Although proceedings of pharmaceutical professionals are to a great extend legally determined and described in various acts and regulations, work diligence should be one of the most characteristic traits of a professional pharmacy employee. Many publications addressing the quality of services provided by pharmaceutical employees focus on patient satisfaction, here the authors focused on more objective methods i.e. prescription analysis. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the study was to assess whether post-inspection National Health Fund reports would constitute a reliable source of quality assessment of pharmaceutical services provided by community pharmacies. METHODS: The study is an in-depth quality and quantity analysis of 28 post-inspection quarterly reports conducted by the National Health Fund between 2013 and 2019. RESULTS: Vast majority of inspections ended in stating a variety of irregularities. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of irregularities contained in the National Health Fund’s post-inspection reports does not seem an appropriate indicator of assessing the quality of pharmaceutical services provided in community pharmacies, because of its targeted character. Inappropriate performance of professional duties by staff members is the main source of irregularities in the implementation of prescriptions for reimbursable medications. There is a need to improve staffs’ professional competence and ultimately the quality of pharmaceutical services.