In New Zealand, patients who receive a prescription by a General Practitioner, may go to any community pharmacy to have their medications dispensed.  Pharmacy hopping describes the behaviour whereby people collect their prescribed medications from multiple community pharmacies over time. This may have negative health consequences. Continuity of care, which may be categorised as relational, informational or clinical is associated with improved outcomes for patients, health professionals, and the healthcare system.

Every patient in NZ has a unique National Health Index (NHI) which is attached to their interactions with the central-government-funded health service, including registration with a General Practitioner at a Primary Health Organisation (PHO), laboratory test results, medications dispensed at community-based pharmacies and hospitalisations.  Approved researchers can use an encrypted-NHI to undertake whole-of-population studies of health service utilisation.

In this study we will combine  sociodemographic (age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, neighbourhood of residence) data from the PHO register from 1/1/2023 to 31/12/2024 with pharmaceutical dispensing data (number of items dispensed, encrypted identifier of pharmacy) the geographical variations in medications dispensed by community pharmacies in New Zealand. Ethnicity is coded using Health NZ Protocols. We investigate variations by ethnicity using prioritised output (Māori, Pacific, Asian, European, Others). Furthermore in this analysis, we provide a deeper analysis of the Pacific population (e.g. Samoan, Tongan, Niuean, etc), and pharmacy hopping behaviours. Network distance is measured between the neighbourhood of residence and the location(s) of the pharmacy from which patients collect their dispensed medications.

We are particularly interested in the socio-demographic composition of pharmacy hoppers, and whether they differ from patients who only use one pharmacy.  Furthermore, we will investigate whether pharmacy hopping may reflect access to pharmacies near home and/or work; or whether patients have a ‘preferred’ pharmacy for regular care and hop to other locations for specific items.