Investigation on the Current Situation of Chronic Disease Management in Community Pharmacy in Shandong Province

OBJECTIVE To investigate the current situation of chronic disease management in community pharmacy in Shandong Province to provide reference for improving the management level of pharmacies. METHODS There were 155 community pharmacies in 5 cities of Shandong Province selected as the research objects, to investigate the staff, service items and blocking factors of chronic disease management in pharmacy through questionnaires. There were 1 155 patients with chronic diseases selected to investigate their cognition, needs, participation and recognition of chronic disease management in pharmacy. RESULTS The community pharmacy mainly provided services for hypertension(90.5%), diabetes(87.5%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(75.2%). The service items mainly included medication guidance(90.3%), health education(89%) and biochemical indicators testing(85.8%). The blocking factors were lack of professional managers(61.3%), poor patient compliance(52.9%) and low trust(48.4%). Patients with chronic diseases had low awareness(65.2%) and participation(56.5%) of of chronic disease management. They expected the pharmacy to establish a special area for chronic disease management(57.7%), detect biochemical indicators(56.2%), and provide medication guidance(50.8%). Patients of 73.6% trust the management of the pharmacy, and the satisfaction rate was 86.7%. CONCLUSION Chronic disease management in community pharmacy have met the needs of patients for disease rehabilitation and health management, despite many challenges. Community pharmacy need to make good use of all kinds of favorable policies, innovate boldly and explore constantly from the development direction, development path and development mode.