Prescriptions as quality indicators of pharmaceutical services in Polish community pharmacies.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of community pharmacies' quality of service is a very difficult task, resulting from the multiplicity and variety of provided services as well as patient-related factors (i.e. their health condition, expectations, education level or cultural and social background). Although proceedings of pharmaceutical professionals are to a great extend legally determined and described in various acts and regulations, work diligence should be one of the most characteristic traits of a professional pharmacy employee. Many publications addressing the quality of services provided by pharmaceutical employees focus on patient satisfaction, here the authors focused on more objective methods i.e. prescription analysis. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the study was to assess whether post-inspection National Health Fund reports would constitute a reliable source of quality assessment of pharmaceutical services provided by community pharmacies. METHODS: The study is an in-depth quality and quantity analysis of 28 post-inspection quarterly reports conducted by the National Health Fund between 2013 and 2019. RESULTS: Vast majority of inspections ended in stating a variety of irregularities. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of irregularities contained in the National Health Fund's post-inspection reports does not seem an appropriate indicator of assessing the quality of pharmaceutical services provided in community pharmacies, because of its targeted character. Inappropriate performance of professional duties by staff members is the main source of irregularities in the implementation of prescriptions for reimbursable medications. There is a need to improve staffs' professional competence and ultimately the quality of pharmaceutical services.

Characterization of Glass-Ceramic Sealant for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells at Operating Conditions by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

A commercially available glass-ceramic composition is applied on a ferritic stainless steel (FSS) substrate reproducing a type of interface present in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) stacks. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to study the electrical response of the assembly in the temperature range of 380-780 °C and during aging for 250 h at 780 °C. Post-experiment analyses, performed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), and along cross-sections by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, highlight the microstructural changes promoted by aging conditions over time. In particular, progressive crystallization of the glass-ceramic, high temperature corrosion of the substrate and diffusion of Fe and Cr ions from the FSS substrate into the sealant influence the electrical response of the system under investigation. The electrical measurements show an increase in conductivity to 5 × 10-6 S∙cm-1, more than one order of magnitude below the maximum recommended value.