Healthcare Optimization, Medication Management and Preparedness in Retail Pharmacy Industry during the Covid-19 Pandemic in India

Abstract

BODY: Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a health crisis,which has almost impacted every industry, causing steep inroadsinto the global economy, and the pharmaceutical industryis no exception. Retail pharmacists are the most approachableand immediate healthcare aid to the general public. Pharmacistscan implement guidance and best practices in responseto the rapidly changing COVID-19 pandemic to ensure patientand staff safety and the approaches pharmacy teams acrossthe country. Social distancing and lockdown measures taken bythe Indian government have been greatly affected by the retailpharmacy industry, leading to disruption in the supply chainof medicines and other precautionary equipment. Medicationmanagement, necessary safety equipment, and preparednessfor handling drug shortages are the focus points for the retailpharmacy industry in these times of the pandemic. As the retailpharmacy comes under essential services and is operatingcontinuously during the lockdown period, there is a need tohighlight and gauge the preparedness and preventive measuresundertaken by pharmacists in India during this medicalemergency.AIM: This research aims to analyze the retail pharmacy administrationin India towards essential medication, to check adherenceto key preventative measures and activities performed ininpatient counseling for self-management and safe dispensingof medicines in COVID-19 & lockdown period and the barriersfaced/concerns towards these measures.METHODOLOGY: This study is based on methods of quantitativeanalysis from retail pharmacies in India. The survey questionnairewas drafted on Google forms and sent to various retailpharmacy outlets. The data pertains to various medications’storage and consumption pattern, concerns over day-to-dayactivities in the pharmacy, and preventive measures implementedby pharmacists towards COVID-19 preparedness.RESULT: 167 pharmacists addressed the questionnaire acrossvarious regions of the country by different types of pharmacy:community pharmacy (66.5%), retail pharmacy section in a private(14.4%) and public hospital (11.4%), and clinical pharmacy(7.8%). The statements developed for the study are closely related,and a good Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.881 was achieved.One-way ANOVA testing determined that out of 12 statementson the preparedness of pharmacy, nine statements showed asignificant difference concerning the types of pharmacy implementingthe preventive measures.