Information Technology Use in Community Pharmacies in Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Information technology (IT) has transformed the practice of pharmacy worldwide. This study was undertaken to determine the pharmacists’ IT use, utilization patterns and their opinions regarding IT use. The majority of pharmacies had networked computers (71.7%) and internet connections (60.9%). Pharmacists had poor knowledge of IT (mean rating score = 2.28  0.83) and limited knowledge of the available online resources. The majority of pharmacists used Google for internet literature searches. About 78.1% of pharmacists agreed/strongly agreed that IT had a role to play in pharmacy practice. Internet surfing (89.1%), web browser navigation (67.4%) and advanced e-mail management skills (58.7%) were the most cited pharmacists’ future needs. Harare community pharmacists were found to have poor IT knowledge and generally under utilize IT. More structured informatics training should be given to pharmacists and pharmacy students to better their knowledge and utilization of IT.