pharmacy | Acta Medica Marisiensis

Factors Influencing the Choice of a Pharmacy in Romania: Comparation between Studies Performed in 2012 and 2020

Marius Călin Cherecheș¹, Cristian Olimpiu Popa²

1. Faculty of Pharmacy, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Targu Mures, Romania
2. Faculty of European Studies, Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj Napoca, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2020-0029

The main factors perceived by patients as important in selecting a pharmacy were studied for many years. Selected studies mentioned primarily factors such as location, pharmacist competence and attitude, pharmacy services and premiums, and prices. We compared the results from our study in June 2012 with the results of the most recent study conducted in April 2020 focusing on the main factors influencing the patient’s option for a specific pharmacy. Respondents were asked an open question about what is the most important factor they consider when choosing a pharmacy and then answers were grouped into main categories. The urban population has been considered for both studies. The results tell us that the factors influencing the choice of a pharmacy remained unchanged over the time: i) prices, ii) availability of medicine, iii) professionalism of the pharmacist and iv) pharmacy proximity is the most mentioned by our respondents in both studies. However, the rank between these factors changed. Prices remain the top factor while the Availability of medicine (products) has been overcome by the Professionalism of the pharmacist (Attitude of the pharmacist) and Proximity. Using the logistic regression and Odds Ratio, we tried to identify socio-demographic segments significantly associated with these factors. Persons with low income are very likely to indicate Price as the most important factor in choosing a pharmacy in 2012 (OR = 2.088, p=0.018), while respondents aged 65 years and older are more likely not to indicate Price as the most important factor compared with other age groups, in both 2012 and 2020 studies (OR = 0.4, p=0.009, respective OR= 0.325, p=0.010). For this type of respondent, 65 years old and above, the attitude of the pharmacist is the most important factor influencing their choice of a pharmacy in 2020, while products availability has been the most frequent answer for this segment back in 2012. Results in Romania are similar to the ones collected from other countries as reported by other studies. However, particularities of the local market and regulations are influencing the ranking.

The Assessment of Romanian Customers’ Level of Satisfaction with Pharmaceutical Providers

Cherecheș Marius Călin^1*, Timofe Mara Paula², Oniga Ovidiu¹

1 Faculty of Pharmacy, ”Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2 Cluj School of Public Health, College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

DOI: 10.1515/amma-2015-0079

The aim of the current study is to assess the level of satisfaction towards pharmaceutical services among Romanian customers. Moreover, we were interested in building the socio-demographical profile of a Romanian satisfied customer. The study has a transversal design and uses a quantitative approach. Data was collected at the national level in June 2012 by using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) and resulted in 1,478 valid questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were performed in order to properly present the sample of interest according to socio-demographic characteristics, as well as general attitudes towards pharmaceutical market. According to our analysis, only half of the respondents have a favorite pharmacy (50,4%). Regarding their level of satisfaction, the majority of respondents (53%) declared themselves as being quite satisfied with the pharmacy that they usually collaborate with, whereas 42% of respondents are very satisfied with their favorite pharmacies. According to our analysis, the most satisfied customer has the following socio-demographic characteristics: female (N=351), aged between 56 and 70 years old (N=259), having high school as the highest level of education (N=184), living in an urban area (N=343), having a monthly income of 501-1000 RON (N=217), married (N=396), having no chronic disease (N=312), having a family composed of two members (N=185). Customer’s satisfaction represents a personal evaluation on the pharmaceutical services and providers and is an essential part of the quality of health care. Therefore, it is vital to assess the customer’s expectation and satisfaction in order to ensure the success of the pharmaceutical company.