Patient satisfaction with community pharmacist-led anticoagulation management services and its relationship with patient characteristics in New Zealand

BackgroundCommunity pharmacist-led anticoagulation management service (CPAMS) offers international normalised ratio point-of-care testing of warfarin in a community pharmacy setting. It has now expanded with 7,344 patients enrolled in the service across 164 pharmacies in New Zealand. The clinical benefit of CPAMS has been shown to be superior, but patient satisfaction with the service has not been fully explored.ObjectiveTo develop a questionnaire to assess patient satisfaction with CPAMS and evaluate its psychometric properties. Additionally, to determine the level of patient satisfaction with CPAMS and identify determinants of satisfaction with CPAMS.Settings1071 patients enrolled in CPAMS across New Zealand invited to take part in the study.Main outcome measureSatisfaction with CPAMS service.MethodsAdult patients taking warfarin and currently enrolled in CPAMS were recruited through the national international normalised ratio online system and invited to complete a 36-item survey assessing satisfaction with CPAMS. To identify the most important dimensions of patient satisfaction, exploratory factor analysis was used. Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine the effect of independent variables on patient satisfaction.ResultsA total of 305 patients completed the survey. The mean overall satisfaction score was 94.5% +/- 13.1 out of maximum possible points. Five dimensions of patient satisfaction were identified by factor analysis: patient-centred communication, confidence in pharmacist competence, patient-pharmacist relationship, confidence in CPAMS, and pharmacy environment. Being older and more frequent visits to a pharmacy were positively associated with patient satisfaction. Living more than 1 km away from a pharmacy, and 'poor' self-perceived health status were negative predictors of patient satisfaction. Being Maori or of other ethnic minority was also associated with lower satisfaction scores, exploratory analysis suggests patient-pharmacist relationship is an important driver of these differences.ConclusionsThe high level of patient satisfaction further supports the effectiveness of CPAMS as a delivery model. Patient satisfaction is affected by age, frequency of pharmacy visits, ethnicity, travel distance to pharmacy, and perceived health status. Policy makers and practitioners should consider the characteristics of patients with low levels of satisfaction to improve and enhance CPAMS engagement.