Perceptions of Professional Expectations of Patients and Pharmacists in Pharmaceutical Services in Pharmacy

Abstract

Implementation of pharmaceutical services by applicable standards strongly supports the role of pharmacists in realizing quality pharmacy services, so that the pharmacist is required to build professional expectations in value based on competence and communication skills. The study aims to analyze the professional perceptions of patients and pharmacists towards pharmacy services in pharmacies. This research is cross-sectional and descriptive with a quantitative approach. A total of 155 pharmacists and 610 patients from 7 Indonesian provinces responded. The method of data analysis is performed descriptively to look at the characteristics and perceptions of respondents regarding competence and communication skills using univariate analysis with SPSS, as further described in the narrative. The results show that as much as 95% of pharmacists already have good competence, and 94% have good communication skills. The patient's perception of the pharmacist's competency and communication skills is good, respectively (94% and 90%). The conclusion suggests that the professional expectations of patients and pharmacists in pharmacy services are good, but the communication skills of the pharmacist need to be improved further.