Point-of-care testing (POCT) is traditionally defined as laboratory diagnostics performed at or near the site where clinical care is delivered. POCT thereby combines sample collection, analysis, and reporting of results into a robust integrated testing structure, with a simple user interface. The availability of reliable devices and consolidated tests for patient screening, diagnosis and monito...

IZINDABA 218 Dispensing doctors breathed a sigh of relief on 11 March when the government's dogged legal insistence that they not dispense medicine within 5 km of any pharmacy was overruled on appeal to the Constitutional Court. The victory is all the more significant in that doctors setting up practices in future will also not be affected by the provision which the court declared null and void...

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders with the locations of independently owned pharmacies in rural America that are the sole sources of access to local pharmaceutical services. Organizations representing those pharmacies have argued that the advent of Medicare prescription drug plans threatens the financial viability of those pharmacies (Gr...

The aim of this work was to evaluate the concentration of carbamide peroxide compounded at different dispensing pharmacies. Immediate concentration analysis was made of bleaching gels dispensed by specialized pharmacies, and of a commercially available gel (control group) (n=20). The carbamide peroxide concentration was determined by titration and the results were analyzed statistically by the ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the current and likely future provision of screening services for risk factors for coronary heart disease in retail pharmacies in Sheffield. DESIGN This was a questionnaire survey asking about screening tests currently offered, price charged per test, likely future provision of screening tests, the action respondents would take upon finding an abnormal test result, wh...

OBJECTIVE To better understand the practice standards and scope of pharmacist-administered vaccination services at chain pharmacies in California. DESIGN Cross sectional. SETTING California in 2006-2007. PARTICIPANTS Eight state-level immunization coordinator corporate liaisons to chain pharmacies' immunization programs. INTERVENTION Key informant phone survey with follow-up written sur...

Keeping in view the importance of community pharmacies and their outreach to the patients, many developing countries have used their potential to promote safe and effective treatments by building their dispensing practices. This article discusses the importance of community pharmacies in the context of healthcare delivery system, and the potentials and opportunities which exist to promote the r...

OBJECTIVE To assess the pharmacy profession's perceptions of tobacco sales in US pharmacies and explore whether a policy prohibiting sales of tobacco in pharmacies would alter adult consumer shopping behaviour. SUBJECTS AND DESIGN In California, surveys were administered to 1168 licensed pharmacists and 1518 pharmacy students, and telephone interviews were conducted with 988 adult consumers. ...

BACKGROUND The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia recommends use of a written assessment checklist prior to supply of emergency contraception by pharmacists. OBJECTIVE The aim of this research was to determine the prevalence of use of a written assessment checklist by community pharmacists and secondly, to ascertain the effect of the checklist on appropriate assessment and supply. METHODS ...