Pharmacists expectations regarding the services provided by drug and poison information center

Health care professionals have been surveyed concerning their satisfaction with Drug and Poison Information Centers’ (DPICs) services, but have rarely been questioned regarding their expectations. Knowing these expectations would be the starting point for improvement of DPIC’s services. As pharmacists are a major group of DPICs’ clients, this study was aimed to clarify the expectations of Iranian pharmacists regarding the services provided by the DPIC in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Data was collected from questionnaire which was distributed among 562 pharmacists in August, 2008. Data was analyzed by producing descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 17). The mean importance rating for each expectation was determined and sorted in descending order. A response rate of 87.9% was achieved. Drug information textbooks and medical reference books were the ‘most commonly used’ drug information resources. Thirty six expectations had a mean importance rating of ≥ 3 (3 = important). Currently, there is a good fit between Iranian pharmacists’ expectations and DPIC services provided. This survey identified several areas where services was expected but not provided (e.g. provision of telephone consultation services 24 h a day). In instances, where there was a gap between expectations and services provided, the DPIC made programmatic changes to align service with expectation when feasible.   Key words: Drug and poison information center (DPIC), pharmacists, expectations.