Pharmacists Remuneration Models in Iran and Selected Countries: a Comparative Study

Abstract

Pharmacists are members of the healthcare teams that provide valuable services to society. Their incentive to deliver such services is influenced by remuneration methods. In this study, we aimed to review the remuneration models for pharmacists' services and the factors affecting the profitability of pharmacies in some selected countries, including France, Ireland, Canada and Turkey, and compared them to Iran. International data were collected by literature review on Google, Google scholar, PubMed and Scopus. In addition, domestic data were collected by contacting relevant organizations. There is no payment for pharmacists' cognitive services in Iran and in the countries investigated, except for some Canadian provinces. The dispensing fee system in Iran does not seem to be adequate, especially considering that most of the insurers do not cover these fees. The pricing method in Iran has resulted in a low price level, in comparison to the other countries, and this issue has dramatically affected the profitability of pharmacies in standard practice. It could be concluded that changing the current formulation for the dispensing fee to a more appropriate one, defining a remuneration system for non-owner pharmacists other than salary and implementing the new pricing method are necessary in order to improve the services provided by pharmacies.