Factors facilitating and hindering counselling about generic substitution and a reference price system in community pharmacies - a survey among Finnish dispensers.

Background: Pharmacies play the key role in implementing generic substitution (GS) and counselling customers about it. This study aimed to explore dispensers' perceptions of the factors that facilitate or hinder counselling customers on GS and the reference price system (RPS) in community pharmacies. It also studied dispensers' opinions about the benefits and problems of these systems and discusses them from the counselling point of view.

Benefits, Problems, and Potential Improvements in a Nationwide Patient Portal: Cross-sectional Survey of Pharmacy Customers' Experiences.

Background: Patient engagement is a worldwide trend in health care. Patient portals have the potential to increase patients' knowledge about their health and care and therefore enhance patient engagement. Portal users' experiences are needed to determine if these portals work appropriately and if there are barriers to achieving the aims that were set before their implementation.

Pharmacy Customers' Experiences of Use, Usability, and Satisfaction of a Nationwide Patient Portal: Survey Study.

Background: Patient portals have been introduced in several countries in the last few decades. Despite worldwide objectives of introducing patient portals, nationwide portals are rare, and studies about their use are limited. Finland is one of the forerunners in developing nationwide health data systems.

Reasons for allowing and refusing generic substitution and factors determining the choice of an interchangeable prescription medicine: a survey among pharmacy customers in Finland.

Background: Generic substitution (GS) was introduced in Finland in 2003 and supplemented with a reference price system (RPS) in 2009. Patients play a vital role in the acceptance of GS and the use of less expensive generic medicines. The objective of this study was to explore Finnish pharmacy customers' experience with allowing and refusing GS.