Page 47 - Management Theory 2023-2024 Edition

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3. Patient Behavior: These are communication barriers from the pharmacist’s perspective. There are
several barriers that may prevent patients from communicating with the pharmacist. The most
important one is the perception about the pharmacist. If the patient perceives that the pharmacist is not
knowledgeable, then he will avoid communicating with the pharmacist. Also, if the patient perceives
that the pharmacist does not want to talk to him, he will not initiate communication. Thus the patient’s
perception about the pharmacist plays an important role in initiating communication with the
pharmacist.

Another example of patient perception is their belief about the healthcare system. Many of them
believe that the healthcare system is impersonal, and caregivers are not concerned about them as
individuals but rather as cases or disease state. This type of hidden belief may also act as a barrier in
interpersonal communication.

A patient’s perception of their medical condition may also act as a barrier in the communication process.
Many times patients believe that their condition is relatively minor and they do not require counseling
or consultation with anybody beside their physician. In contrast, patients may be really worried and
anxious about their medical condition and not want to talk with anybody. Also, there is a belief among
many patients that they should not know anything more than what is stated on the prescription
container.

4. Administrative And Financial Barriers: There are several administrative and financial factors that
prevent or act as barriers in the process of communication. Since pharmacists are not getting any
incentive to counsel the patient, they try to spend their time filling prescriptions or with other activities
which may provide them financial incentives. For example, many pharmacies provide an annual bonus
to their pharmacists on the basis of the number of prescriptions filled or number of formulary
prescriptions dispensed.

The second factor that prevents the pharmacist from communicating with the patient is workload and a
limited number of staff members. Since the profession of the pharmacist is well reimbursed by
pharmacies, many pharmacy managers do not want their pharmacists to spend time counseling
patients. Also cost containment strategies of pharmacies may offer less help to pharmacists, though
cutting down staffing members may act as a principal barrier in interpersonal communication with
patients.

5. Time Barriers: Trying to initiate communication at an inappropriate time may also lead to
communication failure. For example, a patient has just come from the dentist office where he has
waited for 2 hours to have removed his wisdom teeth. He is at the pharmacy to get his pain medication
filled and may not be in a condition to communicate. The same way if the pharmacist has lots of
prescriptions to fill, he will not be able to communicate with the patient; if he communicates, he cannot
provide a reasonable time for successful counseling.

Assertiveness

There are generally three types of behaviors we commonly see in practical life. These are:

1. Passive Behavior
2. Aggressive Behavior
3. Assertive Behavior

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