Version 1
: Received: 29 June 2024 / Approved: 1 July 2024 / Online: 1 July 2024 (11:49:27 CEST)
How to cite:
Talay, L.; Vickers, M. Dispensing Error Rate in an App-Based, Semaglutide-Supported Weight-Loss Service: A Retrospective Case Study. Preprints2024, 2024070092. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0092.v1
Talay, L.; Vickers, M. Dispensing Error Rate in an App-Based, Semaglutide-Supported Weight-Loss Service: A Retrospective Case Study. Preprints 2024, 2024070092. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0092.v1
Talay, L.; Vickers, M. Dispensing Error Rate in an App-Based, Semaglutide-Supported Weight-Loss Service: A Retrospective Case Study. Preprints2024, 2024070092. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0092.v1
APA Style
Talay, L., & Vickers, M. (2024). Dispensing Error Rate in an App-Based, Semaglutide-Supported Weight-Loss Service: A Retrospective Case Study. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0092.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Talay, L. and Matt Vickers. 2024 "Dispensing Error Rate in an App-Based, Semaglutide-Supported Weight-Loss Service: A Retrospective Case Study" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0092.v1
Abstract
Digital weight-loss services (DWLSs) combining pharmacotherapy and health coaching have the potential to make a major contribution to the global struggle against obesity. However, there is currently no evidence to counter the widespread concern that these services enable large numbers of unsuitable patients to obtain Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA). This study retrospectively analysed the rate at which the partner pharmacy network of Australia’s largest DWLS provider committed GLP-1 RA dispensing errors over a 6-month period. The analysis found that 191 (0.14%) of the 135131 dispensed Semaglutide orders contained an error. Non-compliant dose escalation (44.5%) and dispatch errors (32.5%) were the two most common error types. Most errors (89%) were deemed to have been of medium urgency, with 6.8% considered high urgency. A disproportionate number of high urgency cases were from wrong medication (31%) and general complaint errors (15%). A Chi-square test revealed a statistically higher dispensing error rate among orders to female patients (0.16%) compared to males (0.076%). The results lay an important foundation in digital pharmacy literature and suggest that comprehensive DWLSs have the potential to safely collaborate with third-party pharmacies in dispensing GLP-1 RAs.
Keywords
Dispensing errors; GLP-1 RA medications; Digital pharmacy; Obesity; Chronic care; Multidisciplinary care; Third party pharmacy; Telehealth
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
