International Journal on Science and Technology

E-ISSN: 2229-7677   •   Impact Factor: 9.88

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 16 Issue 2 April-June 2025 Submit your research before last 3 days of June to publish your research paper in the issue of April-June.
Submit Research Paper Join as a Reviewer

Plagiarism is checked by the leading plagiarism checker TurnItIn

Call for Paper

Volume 16 Issue 2
April-June 2025

Submit your research paper

Indexing Partners
Academia Advanced Sciences Index Bielefeld Academic Search Engine CiteSeer DRJI Google Scholar Independent Search Engine & Directory Network ISI (International Scientific Indexing) Issuu Mendeley Research Networks
RefSeek ResearcherId - Thomson Reuters ResearchGate Scirus Scribd Semantic Scholar UTeM - Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka Wiki for Call for Papers WorldCat Zenodo

Evaluating the Impact of Pharmacy Technician Role Expansion on Dispensing Efficiency and Pharmacist Clinical Workload in a Saudi Tertiary Hospital: A Retrospective Comparative Study

Author(s) Abdulrahman A. Bin Mousa, Abdulaziz H. Alkhathami, Mohammed N. Alshammari, Yousef A. Alzeer, Mona J. Alsadoon, Ghadah A. Alharbi
Country Saudi Arabia
Abstract Background:
In busy tertiary care pharmacies, ensuring both speed and safety in medication dispensing is paramount. One promising strategy is to broaden the responsibilities of pharmacy technicians—allowing them to take on tasks traditionally handled by pharmacists. Although this approach has shown benefits elsewhere, evidence from Saudi Arabia’s tertiary hospitals remains scarce.
Objective:
This study explores how expanding the scope of pharmacy technician duties affects two critical outcomes in a major Saudi tertiary hospital: (1) the efficiency of the dispensing process and (2) the workload of pharmacists.
Methods:
We conducted a twelve month, retrospective comparative analysis encompassing two phases: before role expansion (January–June 2023) and after role expansion (July–December 2023). Quantitative measures—average turnaround time per prescription, number of prescriptions processed per shift, and dispensing error rates—were extracted from the hospital’s electronic records and analyzed in SPSS v.26. To capture staff experiences, we carried out semi structured interviews with pharmacists and technicians and performed thematic analysis in NVivo 12.
Results:
Following the role expansion, the average turnaround time fell from 18.5 to 12.3 minutes (p=0.004), while prescriptions processed per shift rose from 220 to 295 (p=0.001). Importantly, dispensing errors also declined significantly (2.1% vs. 1.2%, p=0.008). Qualitative insights highlighted smoother workflows, greater technician autonomy, and more opportunities for pharmacists to engage in clinical activities rather than routine dispensing tasks.
Conclusion:
Empowering pharmacy technicians to assume enhanced dispensing duties led to clear improvements in operational efficiency and a measurable reduction in pharmacist workload. These findings underscore the value of developing standardized training programs and clear policy frameworks—steps that would support wider adoption of expanded technician roles across Saudi Arabia in alignment with Vision 2030.
Keywords Pharmacy technician, Dispensing efficiency, Role expansion, Pharmacist workload, Hospital pharmacy, Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030
Field Medical / Pharmacy
Published In Volume 15, Issue 4, October-December 2024
Published On 2024-10-04
DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15360220
Short DOI https://doi.org/g9hqbr
View / Download PDF File

Share this


CrossRef

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJSAT DOI prefix is
10.71097/IJSAT

Downloads
Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 15 Isu 4Cover Page Vol 15 Isu 3Cover Page Vol 15 Isu 2

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA Open Access

About IJSAT
Fees & Payment
Current Issue
Publication Archive 		Submit Research Paper
Track Submission Status
Publication Guidelines
Publication Ethics
Peer Review & Plagiarism 		Join as a Reviewer
Editors & Reviewers
Reviewer Referral Program
Get Reviewer Membership Certi. 		Website/Journal Policies
Usage Policy
Content Policies
Privacy Policy
Contact Us Message on WhatsApp +91-9687-182-185 editor@ijsat.org