Table 4

Patient perceptions of the value of specific pharmacy quality measures in evaluating a pharmacy (focus groups)

Objective	Quality measure	Perceptions	Sample quotations
Examine patients’ perceived value of specific pharmacy quality measures	Helping patients get needed medication	Patients thought this measure was important in evaluating a pharmacy Patients were concerned that the pharmacist would have time to ensure they were getting their needed medications and refills if time was taken to perform these activities There was some uncertainty in the role of the pharmacist to ensure adherence to medicines and mixed feelings on being called by the pharmacy about prescription refills	“I sometimes don't watch how low I get on my medication. And then all of a sudden, I'm like, “Whoa.” And I do need it. I have to call, and it needs to be faxed. It would be nice for a little reminder—” “Yes, I think that (ensuring patients got their needed medication) would be good because I think people sometimes have a lapse in their medications, and it hurts them a lot like for depression or something like that” “How could they call everybody? It's not possible, I wouldn't think. They'd have to have a large staff” “I can see the need for it, but then I can also see that—hopefully, it's not going to be harassing either, you know. …Sometimes I don't get my medicines all the time. A lot of times I can't afford to get it refilled right away. So, I might go a week without my medicine. But I don't want the pharmacy to be harassing me because I am between my pay period” “I think it could be valuable if the pharmacist called up to remind the patient that they were due to have their prescription filled or that it was overdue. But I don't think to ensure”
	Drug-drug interactions	Patients noted that they relied on their pharmacists to ensure their medicines were not harming them	“Pharmacists see interactions with drugs and everything else. That's part of their responsibility. …I have a friend whose doctor prescribed her something that she was actually allergic to. The pharmacist knew all her drugs and drug interactions and actually caught it. I think that's one of the purposes of being a pharmacist like a second check with the doctor. That's very important. She could have died!” “Yeah, I would switch—they don’t have my health in mind. Especially the drug-to-drug interactions. They're dispensing something that they know would react to something else, and they're not doing anything about it, I'd be gone in a heartbeat!”
	Diabetes medication dosing	While patients thought accurate dosing of diabetes medications was needed, patients were unsure of the role of the pharmacist to ensure accuracy Patients thought the measure was not as important since they did not have diabetes but noted that their perception of the measure could change if they developed the illness later	“But why should that be left up to the pharmacist? The doctor should have prescribed it correctly” “I put medium for it (diabetes medication dosing). I'm not saying it's not important. It's just not personal. If two years down the road, I develop diabetes, then that would change”
	Use of high-risk medication in the elderly	Patients thought this measure was very important to consider when evaluating pharmacies	“It's (high risk medication in the elderly) extremely important because they (the elderly) don't understand. A lot of times they're lost. My mother-in-law wasn't getting medication she was supposed to be getting. She was getting stuff that was making her worse. They had not caught that. That's very important. Basically she had some serious memory problems and living in the past”
	Suboptimal treatment of hypertension in patients with diabetes	This quality measure was not highly valued and patients were not sure of the pharmacists’ role related to the measure	“It's extremely important, but it's not nearly as important as doses (accurate diabetes medication dosing) and everything. The doctor should be catching your blood pressure. With diabetes, it will kill you a whole lot faster if you're not getting the right dose”
	Absence of controller therapy for patients with asthma	Patients who had the particular chronic condition (asthma) seemed to value the measure highly	“See, the asthma does pertain to me, because I have two rescue inhalers that I can use up to every two hours. I also am on two other inhalers, a nasal spray, and a pill for my COPD… You know, if it takes a pharmacist to remind a doctor to say, ‘Hey, this patent is utilizing an awful lot of rescue inhalers, you know, you may want to readdress her condition or something’”