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Manal Al-Zaidan,1 Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim,2 Mohamed Ghaith Al-Kuwari,3 Azza Mustafa Mohammed,3 Mansoor Nawaz Mohammed,4 Samya Al Abdulla5 1Pharmacy Department, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 2College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 3Directorate of Strategy Planning and Health Intelligence, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 4Clinical Information Systems Department, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 5Directorate of Operations, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, QatarCorrespondence: Manal Al-ZaidanDirector of Pharmacy, P.O. Box 26555, Doha, QatarTel + 974 40271103Email malzaidan@phcc.gov.qaAbstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care systems around the world. Pharmacists have made substantial contributions to the health care operations during the COVID-19 response. The Pharmacy Department at Qatar Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) acted proactively to ensure that all patients received their medications and their refilled prescriptions in time and without any disruption. The Medication Home Delivery Service was introduced and implemented for all Qatar residents to prevent unnecessary visits to health centers, minimize the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable populations, especially those with multiple comorbidities, and protect health care workers from exposure to the virus. Moreover, several other precautionary measures were taken by the PHCC to ensure uninterrupted access to health care, including moving to a virtual health care delivery model. As of September 2020, the service had served around 64,213 patients since its launch in March 2020. In total, 70,357 medications were delivered and 69,092 (98.2%) medication packages were delivered successfully to patients, with an average of 450.8 medication packages delivered per month. Despite various challenges, the PHCC is considering continuing the Medication Home Delivery Service in the long term to continue with a more effective and efficient service for patients during the coming months and years.Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, pharmacy service, medication home delivery, PHCC, Qatar |
