Rural patient perceptions of pharmacist-provided chronic condition management in a state with provider status

Abstract

Objective: To understand rural patient opinions regarding their willingness to participate in pharmacist-provided chronic condition management.

Design: Qualitative semi-structured key informant interview using The Concept of Access as a theoretical framework.

Setting: Three community pharmacies serving patients in rural Washington State from November 2016 to November 2017.

Participants: Current patients from 3 rural independent community pharmacies.

Main outcome measures: Qualitative analysis of patient attitudes, acceptance, perceptions, and preferences regarding pharmacist-provided chronic condition management services in a community pharmacy.

Results: Eighteen key informant interviews were conducted between November 2016 and November 2017. Five themes were identified: trust between the pharmacist, patient, and physician is key; patients already value pharmacists' knowledge about chronic condition medications; participants identified the pharmacist as the first point of contact with regard to understanding appropriate use of medications to treat medical conditions; implementing clinical services in the community pharmacy setting may reduce the need for doctors' visits and improve timely patient care; and creating designated clinical space, appointment options, and efficient service may increase patient accommodation.

Conclusion: Management of chronic conditions continues to be one of the largest health care expenditures in the United States. One promising method of addressing this public health concern is through sustainable clinical pharmacy services. The themes identified in this study provide insight into factors that community pharmacists might consider as medical provider status continues to gain momentum and the use of clinical pharmacy services becomes more prominent.