Client priorities and satisfaction with community pharmacies: the situation in Tehran

Background Client satisfaction is an important criterion to evaluate pharmacy services. In addition, knowledge about client satisfaction can be helpful to identify strengths and weaknesses which can be used to improve health services. Objective The aim of this study was to assess clients’ priorities and satisfaction with community pharmacy services in Tehran. Setting This study was conducted on clients visiting community pharmacies settled in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Method A cross-sectional descriptive study involving clients of community pharmacies was undertaken using a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire. Data were collected from 800 clients of 200 community pharmacies settled in 22 districts of Tehran. Main outcomes measure Clients’ satisfaction with four areas including community pharmacies physical space, relationship quality, consultation quality and other dimensions of service delivery, and clients’ priorities about different issues related to community pharmacies. Results The study showed that client satisfaction regarding the four mentioned areas (relationship quality, physical space, consultation quality and other dimensions of service delivery) was more than the average of Likert scale (cut point = 3). However, satisfaction with consultations is not much higher than the mentioned cut point. Moreover, “observing courtesy and respect” and “computerized dispensing” showed the most and the least priority to respondents, respectively. Conclusion According to the findings, it seems that a wide range of corrective actions can be performed to promote the level of client satisfaction especially in case of consultations. More importantly, clients’ needs and priorities should be taken into account to select and prioritize these actions.