Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Competency Gaps of Hospital Pharmacists in Facing Telemedicine Integration in Urban Areas of Indonesia
Keywords:
Telemedicine, Telepharmacy, Pharmacist Competency, Instrument Development, IndonesiaAbstract
The rapid adoption of telemedicine has expanded hospital pharmacists’ roles, particularly in urban areas of developing countries such as Indonesia. However, evidence on pharmacists’ telemedicine-related competency gaps remains limited. This study aimed to develop and validate a hospital-specific instrument to assess such gaps. A methodological design was employed, including instrument development, expert content validation, pilot testing, and psychometric evaluation. The instrument covers six domains: digital health literacy, clinical pharmacy competence in telemedicine, communication skills, legal and ethical awareness, interprofessional collaboration, and telepharmacy service management. Validation involved 210 hospital pharmacists from urban Indonesian hospitals. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a six-factor structure explaining 72.4% of the variance, with strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89). Unlike existing telepharmacy readiness tools, this instrument specifically captures multidimensional competency gaps relevant to hospital-based telemedicine practice. The largest gaps were observed in legal–ethical competencies and digital health literacy. This instrument can support workforce assessment and targeted competency-based training for hospital pharmacists in Indonesia.
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