Usefulness of the Risk Management Plan (RMP) Pocket Edition in Pharmacists' Practice in Community Pharmacies: A Questionnaire-Based Study.

Abstract

Risk management plan (RMP) utilization in clinical settings has been reported to be insufficient, particularly in community pharmacies. To facilitate the utilization of RMPs in pharmacists' practice, we created an "RMP Pocket Edition" by summarizing the RMPs. This exploratory study conducted a questionnaire survey to evaluate the usefulness of the RMP Pocket Edition in pharmacists' practice in community pharmacies within Iwate Prefecture. This study targeted managing pharmacists from 89 community pharmacies who intended to use the RMP Pocket Edition. Responses to specific survey items were measured using a five-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Of the 89 pharmacies, 56 responded (response rate: 62.9%), and 40 of them utilized the RMP Pocket Edition. The RMP Pocket Edition was most commonly utilized to check patient materials during counseling, assess drug risks while dispensing new medications, and for personal study. All median scores for the pocket book's perceived usefulness across various aspects of pharmacists' practice, including the understanding of RMPs, the identification of adverse drug reactions, and the facilitation of RMP utilization, were 4 or higher on a five-point scale. Further, the median score for the intention to continue utilizing the RMP Pocket Edition in the future was 5 (interquartile range, 4-5). In conclusion, the findings suggest that the RMP Pocket Edition contributes to facilitating the utilization of RMPs in pharmacists' practice in community pharmacies.