An Exploratory Study of the Perceived Use of Workarounds Utilized During the Prescription Preparation Process of Pharmacies in Alabama

Abstract

The use of workarounds has been mentioned in the literature of various healthcare disciplines. However, there has been limited research thoroughly investigating the workaround phenomena and none conducted exclusively in the pharmacy setting. A survey methodology with a response rate of 25.5% was used to determine the workaround use in pharmacies as reported by a random sample of pharmacists (N = 99) and pharmacy technicians (N = 42) registered with the Alabama Board of Pharmacy.

Analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between workaround use and selected variables (staff characteristics, general pharmacy characteristics, and technology characteristics). A cluster analysis showed that there were identifiable subgroups of respondents that differed in the use of workarounds. The pharmacy technology characteristics had the most impact on the average workaround frequency reported with staff characteristics also being represented in the CHAID trees.