The Relative Importance Consumers Place on Pharmaceutical Services

INTROD UCTZON Pharmaceutical care is defined as the component of pharmacy practice in which pharmacist and patient interact for the purpose of caring for the patient's drug-related needs (1). That interaction requires the cognitive involvement and participation of the patient. To participate, patients must believe that pharmaceutical care is relevant to their needs and wants. Nevertheless, most of the pharmaceutical care literature gives only passing consideration to the patient's viewpoint in the pharmacist-patient relationship. Authors assume that patients will gladly participate in a pharmaceutical care relationship if only it is offered. However, this assumption has not been explored. Before assessing patient perceptions of pharmaceutical care, it is useful to evaluate how patients feel about traditional pharmaceutical services. Do patients see them as being as important as other health care services, or do patients rate them as less critical, nonhealth care professional services? This information is critical in developing strategies to implement and promote pharmaceutical care because future perceptions of pharmaceutical care will be founded on perceptions of traditional services. This paper describes a study that compares the perceived importance of pharmaceutical