Community pharmacists' readiness to take action to improve working conditions.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess pharmacists' readiness to take actions resulting in change at the individual level or systemic level. DESIGN/SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS/OUTCOME MEASURES: An online survey was distributed via pharmacy-related social media pages and several state pharmacy association newsletters and e-mail listservs. Fifteen items assessed participants' readiness to pursue change using a 5-point scale based on the transtheoretical model of behavior change (1 = Do not plan on doing, 2 = Plan to take in the next 6 months, 3 = Plan to take in the next month, 4 = Took in the past 6 months, 5 = Took more than 6 months ago). Categorical principal components analysis (CATPCA) was used as a data reduction technique to identify underlying components of the 15 items assessing readiness to improve working conditions. Component scores for each component were calculated and used as dependent variables in multivariable linear regression models to test associations between the components and sociodemographic and work-related predictors. RESULTS: CATPCA revealed a 12-item scale with 2 components accounting for 39.97% of the total variance. Pharmacists working in independent pharmacies had a significantly higher willingness than chain pharmacists to pursue actions with potential to result in systemic-level changes, such as contacting or joining an organization to attempt to improve their current working conditions (regression coefficient = 0.623, P < 0.001). Pharmacists working in independent pharmacies had a significantly lower willingness than chain pharmacists to pursue actions resulting in individual-level changes, such as changing their current job or quitting (regression coefficient = -0.485, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Pharmacists working in national chains may be less willing than independent pharmacists to pursue systemic-level changes owing to fear of discipline from employers. Future research should examine the effect of interventions intended to increase pharmacists' motivation and readiness to pursue changes to improve working conditions.

Impact of pharmacist prescribing through direct pharmacy access policies on access to hormonal contraception.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the impact of direct pharmacy access (DPA) policies that allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives on women's access by comparing access among 3 groups: (1) women in a state without DPA (Indiana), (2) women in a state with DPA, but not using DPA, and (3) women in a state with DPA and using DPA. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey, including a scale to measure access to contraceptives, perception items, and demographics, was distributed through Amazon Mechanical Turk (Amazon.com, Inc). Kruskal-Wallis tests and linear regression analysis were used. RESULTS: The sample size was 316. When controlling for education, income, and age, the women not using DPA (in Indiana and a DPA state, respectively) reported significantly higher levels of approachability (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively), acceptability (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively), availability and accommodation (P < 0.001 and P = 0.009, respectively), affordability (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively), and appropriateness (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001) access than the women using DPA. The women using DPA reported significantly lower levels of privacy access than those not using DPA in a DPA state (P = 0.004) when controlling for education, income, and age. However, 78.9% of women using DPA agreed DPA made obtaining contraceptives easier. Most of the women who had never used DPA were previously unaware of DPA (81.1% in DPA states and 86.2% in Indiana) but felt that it would improve access (82.8% and 80.0%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Understanding the effects of DPA policies on women's access to contraceptives can inform future policies and support implementation. Lower levels of access across all dimensions among those using DPA may be influenced by imperfect implementation and failure to legislatively enable the sustainability of this service rather than pharmacists' ability to improve women's access.

Perceptions of working conditions and safety concerns in community pharmacy.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Working conditions within community pharmacy can impact pharmacists and their ability to provide safe patient care. The objective of this study was to determine pharmacists' perceptions of working conditions while controlling for respondent (years of experience, degree, work status) and workplace variables (prescription volume, type of community setting). METHODS: This mixed-methods study used a cross-sectional survey to investigate community pharmacists' perceptions of company climate (at the store level, corporate level, as well as fear of discipline), workflow issues, and career satisfaction. Items utilized a seven-point Likert-type response format (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Linear regression was used to assess relationships between perceptions and years of experience, degree, work status, prescription volume, and type of community setting. A free-response question captured perceptions of safety concerns. An adapted version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality integrative model of health care working conditions on organizational climate and safety was used as a framework for this analysis. RESULTS: Respondents working in national chains had significantly more fear of being disciplined for following policies to promote safety and addressing patient safety concerns than respondents in independent (P < 0.001) and grocery and big box stores (P < 0.001), when controlling for years of experience in community pharmacy, degree, and prescription volume. Most participants (n = 805, 96.9%) indicated organizational or company level factors were the most substantial threat to safety, with work design and quality emphasis being the second most frequently mentioned hazards. CONCLUSION: Company climate and workflow were perceived negatively in all community settings but were perceived the most negatively by those working in chain pharmacies. A majority of pharmacists feared being disciplined for addressing safety concerns with management, which may be detrimental to patient safety. Further research on how to improve working conditions is warranted.

Policy solutions to address community pharmacy working conditions.

OBJECTIVE: Increasing attention has been drawn to poor working conditions in community pharmacy, the impact on patient safety, and the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States. This study assessed community pharmacists' perceptions of potential solutions to improve working conditions. METHODS: This mixed-methods, survey-based study explored pharmacists' proposed solutions for improving working conditions. The participants' perceptions of solutions at the company and state or national levels were assessed using a 7-point Likert-type response format (from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Multiple regression assessed the relationships between participant perceptions and pharmacy type (e.g., national chain, grocery, or independent), pharmacy degree, age, average number of prescriptions processed daily (prescription volume), and years of experience. The participants' perceptions of how to improve working conditions were explored to provide more depth and nuance to the understanding of these issues. RESULTS: The sample size was 1222 participants. Respondents working for national chains were statistically significant more in favor of limiting the number of prescriptions verified per pharmacist and less in favor of addressing reimbursement issues than those working for grocery or big-box stores (P = 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively) and independent pharmacies (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively), when controlling for years of experience, degree, and prescription volume. Although addressing staffing issues and changing corporate priorities were immediate concerns, the participants felt that regulating PBM reimbursement practices should be the first priority. CONCLUSION: Identifying solutions from employee stakeholders may be an effective way to inform actions that both employers and extraorganizational entities can take to improve pharmacist working conditions and patient care. Restricting PBMs was the most preferred solution, followed by direct and indirect reimbursement for nondispensing services. However, working conditions in community pharmacy are influenced by multiple factors that often are dependent on one another. Thus, a multifaceted approach will likely be required to improve working conditions.

The effect of pharmacy setting and pharmacist communication style on patient perceptions and selection of pharmacists.

OBJECTIVES: To determine a) the impact of pharmacy setting (chain vs. independent) and b) pharmacists' communication styles on patients' pharmacist selection preferences and their perceptions of pharmacists. DESIGN: A 2 (pharmacy setting) × 4 (communication style of pharmacist) mixed-design experiment using online vignettes, where pharmacy setting (chain vs. independent) was the between-subjects factor and the communication style of the pharmacists (paternalistic, informative, interpretive, or deliberative) was the within-subjects factor. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 502 adult U.S. participants completed an online survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed measures of perceived expertise, quality of medical care, and patient satisfaction after exposure to each vignette. They also selected which of the 4 pharmacists they would want to visit, along with answering an open-ended prompt explaining their decision. RESULTS: Mixed analysis of variance results revealed that pharmacy setting had no impact on the dependent variables, although pharmacists adopting more patient-centered communication (i.e., deliberative or interpretive) were perceived to have greater expertise (P < 0.001). These pharmacists were also predicted to provide a higher quality of care (P < 0.001) and greater patient satisfaction (P < 0.001). Although the majority of participants would choose to visit a patient-centered pharmacist, about 1 in 6 stated that he or she would prefer a pharmacist adopting a paternalistic communication style. Participants' rationale for their selections focused primarily on how the pharmacists would communicate or recommend treatments. CONCLUSION: Although patient-centered care is seen as a criterion standard in pharmacy practice, there is a large subset of patients who prefer pharmacists who communicate from a more biomedical perspective. Future research and interprofessional educational opportunities with colleagues in communication disciplines may be fruitful in helping pharmacists to better assess patient cues that might signal their willingness to be more or less active participants in their care. Pharmacies may also find it useful to improve how they market pharmacists so that patients can more effectively choose pharmacists who fit the style of care they would like to receive.

Determining and regulating scope of practice for health care professionals: A participatory, multiple stakeholder approach.

BACKGROUND: Scope of practice varies between health professions and states. OBJECTIVE: To explore stakeholders' preferences for determining and regulating health care professionals' scopes of practice. METHODS: Stakeholders in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, including practitioners, leaders of professional associations, regulatory board members, and healthcare executives, were recruited via professional organizations, social media, and snowball sampling. Stakeholder preferences were collected using concept mapping, an integrated mixed methods approach which includes 1) brainstorming of statements and 2) sorting and rating of statements. Multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis, and Mann Whitney-U tests were used for analysis. RESULTS: Thirty participants generated and sorted statements regarding preferences for scope of practice, creating eight clusters: 1) accountability to prioritize patient safety, 2) standardization, 3) collaborative regulation, 4) intra-professional regulation, 5) federal versus state, 6) role of non-health care professionals, 7) prioritization of patient outcomes, and 8) health care professional training and education. Fifty-seven participants rated statements in terms of importance and feasibility. Physicians and non-physicians held similar views on 68.5% (n = 37) and 81.5% (n = 44) of statements, respectively for importance and feasibility. The statements in the standardization and health care professional training and education clusters were perceived as the most important and feasible across stakeholder types.

Pharmacists' Perceptions, Barriers, and Potential Solutions to Implementing a Direct Pharmacy Access Policy in Indiana.

This study assessed pharmacists' perceptions, barriers, and potential solutions for implementing a policy allowing pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives in Indiana. A mixed-method survey (n = 131, 22.3% response rate), using Likert-type scales, dichotomous responses (yes/no), and open-ended questions, was distributed to pharmacy preceptors in Indiana. Pharmacists felt prescribing contraceptives would be beneficial (79.1%) and were interested in providing this service (76.0%), but only 35.6% reported having the necessary resources. Participants with a PharmD were significantly more likely to feel the service would be beneficial (odds ratio [OR] = 10.360, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.679, 63.939]) and be interested in prescribing contraceptives (OR = 9.069, 95% CI [1.456, 56.485]). Reimbursement (86.4%), training courses (84.7%), private counseling rooms (69.5%), and increasing technician responsibilities (52.5%) were identified as ways to ease implementation. Women had significantly greater odds of being more comfortable than men prescribing injections (OR = 2.237, 95% CI [1.086, 4.605]), and intravaginal rings (OR = 2.215, 95% CI [1.066, 4.604]), when controlling for age, degree, and setting. Qualitative findings reinforced quantitative findings.

Evaluation of Student Pharmacists' Attitudes and Perceptions of Hormonal Contraception Prescribing in Indiana.

Community pharmacists' scope of practice is expanding to include hormonal contraceptive prescribing. Prior to introducing statewide legislation, it is important to assess the perceptions of future pharmacists. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 651 third- and fourth-year professional students enrolled at three colleges of pharmacy in Indiana. Data were collected between September and October 2019 to assess students' attitudes about prescribing hormonal contraceptives, readiness to prescribe, perceived barriers, and desire for additional training. In total, 20.9% (n = 136) students responded. Most (89%, n = 121) believe that pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraceptives would be beneficial to women in Indiana, and 91% (n = 124) reported interest in providing this service. Liability, personal beliefs, and religious beliefs were the most commonly cited perceived barriers. Most students felt they received adequate teaching on hormonal contraceptive methods (90%, n = 122) and hormonal contraceptive counseling (79%, n = 107); only 5% (n = 7) felt ready to provide the service at the time of survey completion. Student pharmacists in their final two years of pharmacy school are interested in prescribing hormonal contraceptives and believe that this service would be beneficial. This expansion of pharmacy practice would likely be supported by future pharmacists who feel the service could provide benefit to women seeking hormonal contraceptives in Indiana.

Social and legislative shaping of access to contraceptives and the pharmacist's role: A literature review.

BACKGROUND: Despite years of research and numerous policies, access to contraceptives in the United States remains imperfect. Largely due to lack of access to contraceptives, unintended pregnancy rates remain high. OBJECTIVE: To provide researchers and policy-makers with a comprehensive review of the legislative and social landscape that has shaped contraceptive access in the United States, which may help to guide future research and policies. METHODS: A narrative overview of existing literature on policies and research regarding women's access to contraceptives was compiled, with a focus on the role of pharmacists. RESULTS: Contraceptive access has been heavily influenced by laws and policies throughout the years, and disparities remain in underserved populations. Pharmacists are beginning to play a role in improving access to contraceptives through provision of contraceptives using direct pharmacy access policies. CONCLUSIONS: Continued research and new policies aimed at improving contraceptive access are warranted.

Pharmacists' impact on older adults' access to vaccines in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review was to explore pharmacists' impact on older adults' access to vaccines in terms of realized accessibility, financial accessibility, and vaccine availability. METHODS: Five databases were searched using a search strategy developed in PubMed and translated to other databases. Included studies were English-language, United States-based primary literature published between 1994 to present day. Studies were excluded if they were incomplete studies or did not focus on at least one of three dimensions of access to immunizations: realized accessibility, availability, and financial accessibility. The following data were gathered: title, authors, year published, sub-dimension of accessibility, health care setting, intervention or data source, pharmacist role, type of immunization, duration of study, sample size, and main outcome measures. RESULTS: Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Of those, the majority evaluated realized accessibility (n = 22, 88%). Eleven studies evaluated vaccine availability, and one study addressed financial accessibility. Pharmacists had a variety of roles in the immunization process, including screener, educator, immunizer, or documenter, and often played more than one role (n = 10, 40%). Pharmacists participated in the vaccination process across multiple health care settings, including in community pharmacies (n = 8, 32%) and hospitals (n = 7, 28%). In the majority (n = 21, 84%) of studies, pharmacists positively impacted older adults' access to vaccines. The most common vaccinations studied were pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations (n = 20, 80%). CONCLUSION: Vaccinations are important in protecting and maintaining the health of older adults. Pharmacists improved access to vaccinations and served many roles in the vaccination process. Future research should explore how pharmacists impact access to vaccines beyond vaccination rates, especially regarding the financial impact on patients.