A STUDY ON UTILIZATION OF PRICE MONITORING PROGRAM IN COMMUNITY PHARMACIES
Provide a description of the professional practice of community pharmacists, the prescription drugs they administer, and the practice environment in which they exist. Pharmacists without accounts and a further 100 with accounts received surveys. In order to investigate the relationship between utilization, type of practice, location of the practice, and the practice's location, we conducted bivariate analyses. Based on pharmacists' practice environments, we estimated risk ratios of pharmacy utilization. Sixty pharmacists responded (response rate 27.9%). A total of 40 pharmacy responses from community pharmacies were analysed. Eighty-four percent of the pharmacists who responded reported that they or someone in their pharmacy had inquired about the controlled substance usage of a patient. Bivariate analysis indicates pharmacists practicing in independent pharmacies are more likely to utilize (94%) than those practicing in chain pharmacies (75%; p<0.001). Based on multivariate regression results, urban pharmacists and independent pharmacists use reporting programs more often than community pharmacists, depending on the practice environment. Depending on their practice environment, mainly the type and location of their practice, community pharmacists use reporting programs differently. By understanding community pharmacists' characteristics and the environment in which they practice, we can remove barriers to accessing and utilizing PDMPs