The paper describes the contemporary methods of ordering, their demands for time, and positive and negative aspects. The results of the analysis of the data from pharmacies were compared with the data found by analyzing the data provided by the distributor. The methodology of the paper includes: a questionnaire survey, the method of the autopicture, and an analysis of archival data from pharmacies and distributors. The most frequent response to the question concerning the number of supplying wholesale distributors is two (38.1 % of pharmacies) and three (33.3 % of pharmacies); pharmacies receive supplies from them most frequently three times a day (28.1 % of pharmacies). 61.9 % of pharmacies compile the orders intuitively, 38.1 % of them use the possibilities of the automatic proposal of the order using a PC system. 66.6 % of pharmacies utilize modem ordering whose advantages are rapidity (493 %), time availability (41.2 %), a list of confirmed preparations (28.5 %), and financial advantageousness (23.8 %). The average time of ordering amounts to 21 min a day for telephone orders and 4 min a day for modem orders, the average proportion in the use of the individual methods of ordering is 59.1 % to 40.9 % of items to the benefit of modem orders. A concrete pharmacy was selected to demonstrate the effect of changes resulting from the transition from exclusively telephonic ordering to prevalently modem ordering; saved time period amounted to 62.5 % (from 14.4 s to 5.4 s per l ordered item). The analysis of distributors’ data reveals an increase in the share of the items and packages ordered via modem (from 22.2 %, and 20.6 %, respectively, in the year 2000, to 54.5 % and 49.8 %, respectively, in the year 2004).

        Key words: pharmacy – drug ordering – drug distribution