Simeonova J. I.*, Veleva N. R.*, Necheva D.V.**, Georgieva А.А.** PUBLIC IMAGE AND DEMAND FOR PHARMACISTS IN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM FROM PATIENTS’ POINT OF VIEW Simeonova J. I.*, Veleva N. R.*, Necheva D.V.**, Georgieva А.А.** *Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Social Pharmacy, MU-Pleven, Bulgaria **Faculty of Pharmacy, MU-Pleven, Bulgaria Presenting author: Simeonova J.I.

Table 1. Professional competences of the graduate Masters of Pharmacy Pharmacy is a state-regulated major, which complies with a number of national and European requirements. It is a five-year full-time M.Sc. Programme. INTRODUCTION Table 1. Professional competences of the graduate Masters of Pharmacy Creative and innovative thinking and desire for life-long learning Production, testing, storage and distribution of pharmaceutics and sanitation materials Ability to convincingly inform and counsel medical specialists, patients, health insurance organizations, government, etc. about drugs and pharmaceutics Supply to, production, and storage of pharmaceutics and sanitation materials at public and hospital pharmacies Use of modern IT resources for collecting, processing, analyzing and presenting information related to pharmaceutical activities Assessment and dosage of pharmaceutics and sanitation materials Performance of marketing studies of the pharmaceutics market Verification of single and daily doses of prescribed medications Good organization of own pharmacy practice, writing of business plans and specialized reports Assessment of the compatibility of various active substances Preparation of pharmaceutics Providing of adequate information to patients and offering of interchangeable medicines

Table 2. Career opportunities of the Masters of Pharmacy INTRODUCTION Table 2. Career opportunities of the Masters of Pharmacy Preparation of pharmaceutics Quality and safety assessment of pharmaceutics and customs release of pharmaceutics shipments and bioactive substances Production and control of medicines Drugs safety Drugs control in specialized laboratories; Pharmaceutical information, pharmaceutics promotion and advertisement Storage and distribution of pharmaceutics to pharmacies and hospitals; Wholesale and retail of pharmaceutics Pharmaceutical counseling and expert activities. National drugs policy Production, export or import of pharmaceutics and active substances of human, animal, plant, or chemical origin Health economics, pharmacoeconomics, health technologies Official approval of pharmaceutics Drug applicability and rational drug usage at micro- and macro-level Clinical tests of pharmaceutics State regulation of drug products

INTRODUCTION Fig. 1. The number of pharmacists per 100 000 population - differences between countries

INTRODUCTION Table .3. The number of pharmacies and pharmacists (number and per 10 000 population). Number of pharmacist in 1 pharmacy – 2016 Region Number of pharmacies Density of pharmacies (per 10 000) Number of pharmacists Density of pharmacists(per 10 000) Number of pharmacists in 1 pharmacy Bulgaria 3 966 5.63 6 476 9.12 1.62 Pleven 129 5.20 158 6.37 1.22 The highest density Burgas 313 7.58 399 9.67 1.28 Plovdiv 382 5.69 741 11.03 1.94 Sofia 105 4.48 176 7.52 1.68 The lowest density Razgrad 33 2.83 56 4.85 1.70 Dobrich 54 3.03 87 4.88 1.61 Number of pharmacists per 10 000 population in ER: 10.65 Number of pharmacists per 1 pharmacy in ER: 2.6

AIMS and METHODS AIMS: To identify the demand for pharmacists based on patients’ opinion and expectations for pharmaceutical care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried-out in eight health care facilities in Northern Bulgaria in August 2017. All of 500 patients aged 20-89 years were included in the study. Data were processed by SPSS.v.19.0. N0 Health care provider Number % 1 Ambulatory general practice ACTAMED - Sevlievo 34 6.8 2 Ambulatory general practice – Pleven 132 26.4 3 Ambulatory general practice – Bohot, Pleven 38 7.6 Medical center – Pleven 51 10.2 4 Medical center EXACTA MEDICA – Pleven 5 UMHAT D-r G. STRANSKI – Pleven 71 14.2 6 Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Cardiology 65 13.0 7 Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Gynecology Total 500 100.0

Table 2. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients AIMS and METHODS Table 2. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients Variable Number (%) Gender Male Female 184 (37.2) 310 (62.8) Age ≤44 years 45-59 years 60-74 years 75-89 years Me=58 years 108 (22.5) 150 (31.2) 180 (37.4) 43 (8.9) Education Elementary education Secondary education Higher education 45 (12.0) 258 (52.3) 176 (35.7) Residence Town Village 285 (60.1) 189 (39.9) Total 500 (100.0)

RESULTS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHARMACISTS Figure 3. The most important characteristics of the pharmacists according to the patients (%) Some of the most important characteristics of the pharmacists were: high competence (46.2), high customer service culture (17.8%), to give more clear and detailed drug information (17,2%) and to provide timely services (13.8%).

RESULTS REASONS FOR THE PRESTIGE OF THE PHARMACISTS’ PROFESSION provide important information 20.7% take care for peoples’ health 20.2% have due competence 16.6% it is attractive because of the pharmacists workforce shortage 19.7% consumers trust pharmacist 8.3% Over 72% of the respondents stated that pharmacists’ profession is a prestigious one due to the following reasons: they take care for peoples’ health (20.2%), provide important information (20.7%), have due competence (16.6%), is attractive because of the pharmacists workforce shortage (19.7%), consumers trust pharmacists (8.3%).

RESULTS REASONS FOR LACK OF PRESTIGE OF THE PHARMACISTS’ PROFESSION there are other more respected professions 33.3% underestimated profession 16.7% low-paid job 16.7% pharmacists are more consultants 33.3% Only six of the respondents stated that pharmacists profession is not prestigious one due to the following reasons: low-paid job (16.7%), there are other more respected professions (33.3%), underestimated profession (16.7%), pharmacists act more likely as consultants than autonomous specialists (33.3%).

RESULTS WEAKNESSES OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL CARE Figure 4. The most common weaknesses for the pharmaceutical care (%) The most common weaknesses found for the pharmaceutical care were: untimely care (31.0%), bad customer service culture (12.1%), lack of appropriate drug counseling (18.2%) and failures in drug prescriptions processing (10.2%).

Figure 5. Need for clinical pharmacists in the hospital (%) RESULTS NEED FOR CLINICAL PHARMACISTS IN HOSPITALS AND THE ROLE OF THE PHARMACIST IN INTEGRATED MEDICAL CARE Figure 5. Need for clinical pharmacists in the hospital (%) Figure 6. Role of the pharmacist in providing integrated medical care (%) Although 60.1% of the patients considered the presence of clinical pharmacists in hospitals necessary, most of them pointed that their role is limited to supply of drugs in accordance with physicians’ prescriptions (32.5%), recommendation of over-the-counter drugs (35.2%), makeup of extemporal drugs in the pharmacy (6.1%), suggestion of the cheapest substitutes for prescribed medicines (7.5%).

CONCLUSION There is an unmet demand for pharmacists as well as need of dissemination of more profound public information about their comprehensive role in the modern healthcare systems.