Pharmacists' perceptions and practices regarding the purchase of multisource pharmaceuticals.

This article describes the results of a survey of the perceptions and practices of pharmacists towards the purchase of multisource pharmaceuticals. A questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 randomly selected hospital pharmacists, 670 managed-care pharmacy directors, and 900 consultant pharmacists in June, 1991. Recipients were asked to provide educational background data, information on pertinent aspects of their work setting, and responses to a variety of questions about multisource pharmaceuticals. Of the 2,570 surveys mailed, 531 (20.7%) usable responses were received. Although not completely satisfied, pharmacists perceive the quality of multisource products to be better than 2 years ago. A variety of factors were found to influence purchasing decisions. Differences among the three groups were evident in several areas including: the importance of purchasing groups, institutional criteria, and patient preference. Overall, pharmacists made their decisions based on a number of issues, and attitudes among the three groups regarding the purchase of multisource products were quite similar.