UC San Diego

Objective

Investigate the impact of increased access to new and refilled prescriptions by means of an automated pickup kiosk (Asteres ScriptCenter) on prescription abandonment rates, patient experience, and pharmacist consultations.

Design

Nonrandomized, observational study using retrospective, deidentified data from the filling pharmacy, the kiosk, and a pharmacist-completed counseling documentation log over a 35-month study period.

Setting and participants

Hospital employees opting to use a kiosk located in the lobby with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access for pickups and a telephone pharmacist consultation service compared with employees using the regular counter at the filling pharmacy.

Outcome measures

Return to stock (RTS) rate to assess prescription abandonment, time to prescription pickup, consultation duration, kiosk user assessment, and pharmacist assessment of counseling ability.

Results

Approximately 9% of employees (440) enrolled to use the kiosk, with 5062 kiosk pickups recorded for new prescriptions (29%), refill prescriptions (33%), and over-the-counters (38%). The mean kiosk RTS (4.3% ± 3.2) was lower than that at the regular counter (5.6% ± 0.8), P = 0.04, whereas the mean time to pickup was approximately 1 day greater at the kiosk than the regular counter (2.8 ± 0.4 vs. 1.8 ± 0.2, P < 0.001). The average kiosk consultation was approximately 1 minute shorter (2.0 ± 1.4) than that of the regular counter (3.4 ± 1.9, P < 0.001), and fewer patients using the kiosk (15.7%) had additional questions at the end of a consultation session than patients at the regular counter (38.8%, P < 0.001). Most of the kiosk users agreed that their prescription questions were answered and that kiosk convenience was an important reason for using the filling pharmacy. Almost all (>90%) pharmacists indicated that they were able to effectively counsel patients at the kiosk and the regular counter.

Conclusion

The kiosk, used by self-selected health care workers located in a hospital workplace setting with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access, was a convenient, contactless pickup extension of the filling pharmacy with a lower prescription abandonment rate and similar pickup and consultation characteristics as at the regular pharmacy counter.