Development of an electronic tool (e-AdPharm) to address unmet needs and barriers of community pharmacists to provide medication adherence support to patients

Abstract

Background: Community pharmacists are best placed to improve medication adherence because they frequently interact with patients and have been trained to manage medication-related problems. Therefore, it is essential to equip pharmacists adequately to detect non-adherent patients quickly and intervene to improve medication adherence.

Objective: To design e-AdPharm, a tool that addresses unmet needs and barriers of community pharmacists to provide medication adherence support to patients with chronic diseases.

Methods: A qualitative study using 4 focus group discussions with community pharmacists was conducted with a semi-structured interview guide and discussions lasting for 1-2 h. The discussions covered the barriers and needs of pharmacists related to medication adherence support provided to patients, their expectations of an electronic tool based on prescription refills to help them provide this support, and the design of the tool. Focus group data were coded and analyzed using an iterative process, with thematic and descriptive analyses.

Results: Twenty-six community pharmacists participated. Lack of time and motivation from pharmacists and patients were common barriers to the provision of medication adherence support. Accordingly, community pharmacists wished to measure medication adherence quickly, provide easily interpretable data to patients on their medication use, and raise the patient's awareness of non-adherence. The pharmacists expressed their need to have an electronic tool to share medication adherence information with the treating physician. Regarding the design of e-AdPharm, the pharmacists wanted a table displaying medication adherence with a color code representing adherence level. They also stressed the importance of a structured section enabling them to continuously document the interventions made and the need for patient follow-ups.

Conclusions: e-AdPharm meet the needs and overcome the barriers of community pharmacists to provide medication adherence support to their patients. Future studies should examine the feasibility of implementing e-AdPharm in community pharmacies and test its efficacy for improving medication adherence.

Keywords: Community pharmacy; Intervention; Medication adherence; Medication therapy management; Pharmaceutical care; User-computer interface.