Information technology in pharmacy practice: Barriers and utilization

Abstract

A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate pharmacists’ perception of information technology (IT) utilization and to explore the barriers for its implementation in hospital and community pharmacies. Three scores were calculated including tasks, frequency of use, and capability scores. The majority of the participants (n = 784) were community pharmacists (88.8%) and had less than 10 years of work experience (94.8%). Google was the most frequently used source for information (72.4%). No vision or strategic plan for IT was the most common barrier for IT utilization (41.5%). Pharmacists who had a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D) degree had a significantly higher mean in the three calculated scores, and females had a significantly higher tasks score mean. Quantile regression results showed that Pharm. D holders had significantly higher task scores (Coefficient = 1.09, p-value < 0.01) than those with Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) degree, who had significantly lower frequency and capability scores (Coefficient = −6.68 and −1.80, p = 0.02 and <0.01, respectively). Efforts should be made by the different healthcare authorities to overcome the identified bariers and to improve pharmacists’ utilization of IT in order to improve patient care and health outcomes.