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Manal Al-Zaidan,1 Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim,2 Mohamed Ghaith Al-Kuwari,3 Azza Mustafa Mohammed,3 Mansoor Nawaz Mohammed,4 Samya Al Abdulla5 1Pharmacy Department, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 2College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 3Directorate of Strategy Planning and Health Intelligence, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 4Clinical Information Systems Department, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 5Directorate of Operations, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, QatarCorrespondence: Manal Al-ZaidanDirector of Pharmacy, P.O. Box 26555, Doha, QatarTel + 974 40271103Email malzaidan@phcc.gov.qaAbstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care systems around the world. Pharmacists have made substantial contributions to the health care operations during the COVID-19 response. The Pharmacy Department at Qatar Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) acted proactively to ensure that all patients received their medications and their refilled prescriptions in time and without any disruption. The Medication Home Delivery Service was introduced and implemented for all Qatar residents to prevent unnecessary visits to health centers, minimize the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable populations, especially those with multiple comorbidities, and protect health care workers from exposure to the virus. Moreover, several other precautionary measures were taken by the PHCC to ensure uninterrupted access to health care, including moving to a virtual health care delivery model. As of September 2020, the service had served around 64,213 patients since its launch in March 2020. In total, 70,357 medications were delivered and 69,092 (98.2%) medication packages were delivered successfully to patients, with an average of 450.8 medication packages delivered per month. Despite various challenges, the PHCC is considering continuing the Medication Home Delivery Service in the long term to continue with a more effective and efficient service for patients during the coming months and years.Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, pharmacy service, medication home delivery, PHCC, Qatar

Introduction: With the emergence of the first COVID-19 case in Saudi Arabia, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare has immediately executed the appropriate protocols in response to this severe global crisis. The pharmacy department at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare continues to play an essential role in providing the safest, efficient, and effective service to its eligible patients. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmacy department acted by implementing a drive-through pharmacy and home delivery services as new person-centered services to ensure patient safety. These two new services were initiated to protect both the pharmacist and the patient from COVID-19 infections as they ensure social distancing and reduce patients' visits to the walk-in pharmacies, hence providing valuable and convenient services during this pandemic. Objective: This article aims to describe the implementation processes and effectiveness of drive-through medication pick-up and home-delivery services as a patient safety initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The implementation process of the drive-through and home delivery services are explained in detail. The utilization of these two services is evaluated by measuring the number of patients and prescriptions between April 2020 and August 2020. Result: The increased utilization of drive-through medication pick-up and home delivery services in terms of the number of patients and prescriptions ensures patient safety by minimizing infection risk. Conclusion: The increase in the utilization of drive-through medication pick-up and home delivery services reflects its successful implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both services meet the pandemic's social-distancing requirements and minimize risks of infections, which will ensure patient safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]