PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH DELIVERY OF PRODUCTS AND INFORMATION BY AN AMBULATORY CARE PHARMACY

A survey for assessing ongoing patient satisfaction with ambulatory ca re pharmaceutical services was developed for and tested in a veterans population; acquiescence response to survey items and desire for poten tial future services were measured. A questionnaire based on key aspec ts of patient satisfaction described in the literature was distributed to 1451 patients visiting an ambulatory care pharmacy prescription-pi ckup window during five consecutive days in 1994. Patients were asked about current services and the desirability of potential future servic es. Patients indicated their responses to statements about current ser vices. Acquiescence response (the tendency to agree with statements re gardless of content) was measured by using matched pairs of contradict ory statements. The response rate was 48.3%. Patients' mean +/- S.D. o verall satisfaction with current services was 3.7 +/- 1.1. The respons es of 72.0% of patients exhibited no contradictions. The potential new service wanted most by respondents was availability of a pharmacist t o talk with patients by telephone; seeing a pharmacist in the clinic i nstead of a physician for drug-related problems was wanted least by re spondents. Veterans responding to a survey of satisfaction with ambula tory care pharmaceutical services had a low tendency to agree with sta tements regardless of content. The survey can be used to assess vetera ns' ongoing satisfaction.