Evaluation Framework
The Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU takes the lead in evaluating the service outcomes and performing practice-based research.
All eight NGO Community Pharmacies are invited to recruit patients for the survey or focus group interviews for the evaluation research. The HKU research team is recruiting a sample size of 1,056 patients for the evaluation of the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) and 640 participants for Medication Management Services (MMS).
The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework and Randomised Evaluation of Shared Prescribing for Elderly people in the Community over Time (RESPECT) trial are adopted. The former is a tool widely used to evaluate and inform the public health impact of health interventions, and to help reduce bias and increase the validity of the evaluation. The RESPECT trial led by the Project's Principal Investigator (Professor Ian Wong) aimed to assess the impact of a Community Pharmacy-led interventions on patient outcomes in the United Kingdom, which is similar to MMS in Hong Kong. Our research team will adopt the same approach as the RESPECT trial to evaluate the patient outcomes of MMS in Hong Kong.
The objectives of the MAS and MMS evaluation frameworks are divided into the following outcomes:
Structural and Process Outcomes
Structural outcomes refer to the capacity associated with providing care, while process outcomes include the specific steps that healthcare providers and patients undertake to maintain or improve health. These measures allow us to assess the quality of care delivered to the service users.
Humanistic Outcomes
Humanistic outcomes reflect the impact of the services on the community engagement, satisfaction, and enablement of the patients. The standard health related questionnaires (e.g. patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ), Patient Enablement Index (PEI), etc.) are adopted.
Clinical Outcomes
(for MMS only)
Clinical outcomes reflect the impact of the service on the health status of patients. The clinical parameters and health service utilisation are measured.
Economic Outcomes
(for MMS only)
Economic outcomes inform decision-makers about the cost-effectiveness of the Community Pharmacy scheme. The costing study and a cost-effectiveness analysis are conducted.
Informed Consent
The project team will obtain informed written consent from all participants willing to participate in this study. Furthermore, informed written consent will also be sought for the authorisation to access clinical data on the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHealth) and the electronic health records of the Hospital Authority for service evaluation and research purposes.
Ethical Considerations
This study evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of the community-based pharmacy service model. Interventions in the proposed service model are non-invasive and carry minimal risk to the participants. This evaluation study was approved by Institutional Review Board (IRB).
