TY - JOUR T1 - Privileges of Pharmacist in Saudi Arabia: Administration and Management JF - PTB Reports Y1 - 2020 A1 - Faisal Al-Otaibi A1 - Mohamed Soliman Imam A1 - Randa Mansour Abdel-Sattar Ahmed A1 - Amsha Alotaibi A1 - Asma Alotaibi A1 - Amal Alotaibi A1 - Wesam Alsuwaid A1 - Yousef Ahmed Alomi KW - Administration KW - Management KW - Pharmacist KW - Privileges KW - Saudi Arabia AB -

Objectives: To explore the privileges of pharmacists through the pharmacy administration and management in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a 4-month cross-sectional survey regarding the privileges of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. The study consisted of two parts: the first part collected demographic information and the second part comprised a questionnaire with 28 questions divided into 4 domains. The questions were derived from previous literature and from the regulatory standards of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). The four domains were as follows: privilege management and resources, pharmacist prescribing and therapeutic interchange, clinical and administration privilege and drug monitoring and healthcare education. The responses were obtained using a 5-point Likert response scale system with close- and open-ended questions. The survey questionnaire was distributed in an electronic format to the hospital’s director of pharmacy of each hospital in Saudi Arabia. In this study, we analyzed pharmacist’s privilege in Saudi Arabia with regard to the pharmacy administration and management. All data were obtained through the Survey Monkey system. Results: The survey was distributed to 36 hospitals. The administration-related elements of pharmacist privilege with maximum score were policies and procedures of pharmacist’s privilege (3.88 (77.6%)) followed by the vision of pharmacist privilege (3.57 (71.4%)) and pharmacist privilege in the job description (3.56 (71.2%)). The average score of pharmacist privilege in the hospital committees was 3.47 (69.40%). Most of the committees having pharmacist privilege was the patient or medication safety committee (4.09 (81.8%)) followed by the pharmacy and therapeutic committee (4.06 (81.2%)) and quality management committee (4.06 (81.2%)). The average score of pharmacist privilege in the teams was 3.44 (68.85%). The majority of the teams having pharmacist privilege was antibiotics team (4.25 (85%)) followed by anticoagulation team (3.86 (77.2%)) and IV therapy team (3.81 (76.2%)). Conclusion: The privileges of a pharmacists is inadequate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Future programs should target to improve the healthcare system and expand pharmacists’ role in the hospital practice. This might improve the pharmaceutical care services and patient outcomes and prevent drug-related problems and unnecessary economic expenditure on the healthcare practice in Saudi Arabia.

VL - 6 IS - 1 ER -