Optical scanner assessment information as valued by hospital pharmacy directors

摘要

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of communication and information on the potential adoption of optical scanners by hospital pharmacy directors. The study used a randomly selected national mail survey of 600 hospital pharmacy directors. A response rate of 64.17% was attained and the instrument was determined to have adequate reliability. Believability of optical scanner assessment information was compared between directors with high and low optical scanner familiarity. Directors with high familiarity rates the information's influence on their decision to adopt significantly higher than directors with low familiarity. Directors were also asked to rate the importance of the source of information and the optical scanner characteristics when making their decision to adopt. Directors with high familiarity rated management sources, administrative uses and time-savings higher and cost lower in importance. The survey revealed that 18.96% of the respondents were currently using optical scanners, primarily for inventory control.