Patterson BJ, Doucette WR, McDonough RP, Urmie JM University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

1. Understanding Patient Satisfaction, Patronage Motives, Marketing Awareness, Pharmacy Loyalty, and Utilization of Clinical Pharmacy Services in a Progressive Community Pharmacy Patterson BJ, Doucette WR, McDonough RP, Urmie JM University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Introduction Patient Satisfaction Patronage Motives & Pharmacy Loyalty Marketing Awareness • Consumer adoption of a service-oriented pharmacy model has been slow. Two approaches to study consumer adoption include patronage motives and patient satisfaction. • Patient satisfaction is a multidimensional construct that has been used to characterize pharmacy patrons, often as being satisfied. • Pharmacy patronage motives, or reasons patrons choose a pharmacy, have identified convenience and efficiency as salient factors patients use in selecting pharmacies. • While most literature has focused on dispensing, one might expect patronage motives and satisfaction expectations to change as pharmacy service-mix shift over time. Top 3 Reported Patronage Motives Overall Patient Satisfaction (Selected Items) Comparing Patronage Motive and Pharmacy Utilization Objective • Describe and identify significant relationships amongst pharmacy service utilization, general and service-specific patient satisfaction, pharmacy patronage motives, and marketing awareness in a progressive, independent community pharmacy setting. Discussion Methods • A self-reported satisfaction questionnaire assessing overall patient satisfaction, patronage motives, service-specific patient satisfaction, service awareness, pharmacy loyalty, marketing awareness, and demographics was piloted and revised. • A stratified random sample of 500 patients was created. Half of the sample was randomly selected from prescription dispensing records. Half of the sample was randomly selected using clinical service records. • Open-ended survey items were thematically coded. Descriptive statistics, including percentages and means, were used for completion of aim one. Inferential statistics, including t-tests and chi-square statistics were used for completion of aim two. • Respondents were mostly satisfied. Significant associations with pharmacy loyalty were found with patronage motives, including relationships, quality previous experience, pharmacy atmosphere, personnel competency and unique services. • While some argue that performing unique services should bring more customers in for other services providing transfer business, this may not be the case. • Specific service awareness appeared to be influenced through marketing efforts, such as influenza vaccinations, cholesterol screenings, and adherence packing. • Pharmacists could continue offering unique services but must go further in establishing relationships and demonstrating competency. Pharmacists should be very disciplined in marketing efforts via television and radio as these seem to only increase awareness and not utilization. • This study may not generalize to other pharmacy settings. Also, selection, recall and social-desirability biases may influence the results of this study. Comparing Patronage Motive and Pharmacy Loyalty Sample Demographics Service-specific Patient Satisfaction Conclusions • Pharmacy patronage motives are associated with pharmacy utilization and loyalty. Most associations are positive between presence of patronage motive, utilization, and loyalty. However, there is evidence that shopping for unique services, such as vaccinations, may be negatively associated with pharmacy loyalty. Acknowledgements • Financial support was provided through a grant from the Community Pharmacy Foundation: A Comprehensive Longitudinal Assessment of an Innovative Community Pharmacy Practice Grant #103, PI: McDonough RP. • Student Pharmacists Zainab Khan and Megan Mormann assisted in data analysis.