Community Pharmacists and Optimization of Patient Medication Use

A special issue of Pharmacy (ISSN 2226-4787).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2020) | Viewed by 11190

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Laval, Québec City, QC, Canada
Interests: medication adherence; anticancer medications; community pharmacists’ practice; development and evaluation of adherence-enhancing interventions; mixed methods

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Laval, Québec City, QC, Canada
Interests: drug utilization; polypharmacy; pharmacy practice; geriatric; interventions to improve medication utilization; pharmacoepidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Over the past decades, the role of community pharmacists has shifted from dispensing drugs to engaging in a pharmaceutical care approach centred on monitoring side effects, drug interactions, adherence and therapeutic objectives in collaboration with the patient, and other healthcare professionals. Community pharmacists can, therefore, play an increasingly key role in optimizing patient medication experience and use. They have frequent encounters with patients, can assess their experience and needs, and can suggest strategies to overcome difficulties related to patients’ medication.

For this Special Issue on “Community Pharmacists and the Optimization of Patient Medication Use”, we seek manuscripts including but not limited to the following topics: (1) models of pharmaceutical care aimed at optimizing patient medication use, (2) the assessment of patient needs and experiences regarding pharmaceutical care aimed at optimizing their medication use, and (3) the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at optimizing patient medication use or their experience. We seek manuscripts reporting research results from systematic reviews and qualitative, quantitative, observational, and interventional studies.

Prof. Sophie Lauzier
Prof. Line Guénette
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmacy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Community pharmacists
  • Patient medication use
  • Patient medication experience
  • Adherence to treatments
  • Interventions to improve medication use

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 860 KiB  
Article
The Development and Proof of Principle Test of TRIAGE: A Practical Question Set to Identify and Discuss Medication-Related Problems in Community Pharmacy
by Marcia Vervloet, Hanneke E. Zwikker, Annemiek J. Linn, Ellen S. Koster, Suzan G. H. Gipmans, Maaike C. W. van Aarle and Liset van Dijk
Pharmacy 2020, 8(4), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy8040178 - 27 Sep 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3114
Abstract
The pharmacy counter is a good place to identify and discuss medication-related problems. However, there is a lack of practical communication tools to support pharmacy technicians (PTs) in initiating a conversation with patients. This study aimed to develop and test a practical set [...] Read more.
The pharmacy counter is a good place to identify and discuss medication-related problems. However, there is a lack of practical communication tools to support pharmacy technicians (PTs) in initiating a conversation with patients. This study aimed to develop and test a practical set of questions for PTs, called TRIAGE, to identify problems during encounters. TRIAGE was developed based on insight from the literature, focus groups with PTs and pharmacists, and input from patients and experts. In 10 community pharmacies, 17 PTs used TRIAGE during encounters with patients who collected their cardiovascular medication. For each encounter, PTs registered the identified problems and suggested solutions. A total of 105 TRIAGE conversations were held, 66 for first refill and 39 for follow-up refill prescriptions. In 15 (23%) first refill prescription encounters, a problem was identified. These problems concerned forgetting to take the medication, a complex medication regime or (fear of) side effects. In three (8%) follow-up refill prescription encounters, a problem was identified. Most of the problems were solved on the spot. Pharmacy technicians indicated that they identified medication-related problems with TRIAGE that otherwise would be left unnoticed. They appreciated TRIAGE as a useful instrument for starting the conversation with patients about medication use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Pharmacists and Optimization of Patient Medication Use)
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12 pages, 261 KiB  
Article
Checking Inhaler Technique in the Community Pharmacy: Predictors of Critical Errors
by Tatiana Makhinova, Brandie L. Walker, Marlene Gukert, LeAnna Kalvi and Lisa M. Guirguis
Pharmacy 2020, 8(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy8010006 - 7 Jan 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3776
Abstract
Inhaled medications are critical in the pharmaceutical management of respiratory conditions, however, the majority of patients demonstrate at least one critical error when using an inhaler. Since community pharmacists can be instrumental in addressing this care gap, we aimed to determine the rate [...] Read more.
Inhaled medications are critical in the pharmaceutical management of respiratory conditions, however, the majority of patients demonstrate at least one critical error when using an inhaler. Since community pharmacists can be instrumental in addressing this care gap, we aimed to determine the rate and type of critical inhaler errors in community pharmacy settings, elucidate the factors contributing to inhaler technique errors, and identify instances when community pharmacists check proper inhaler use. Fourth year pharmacy students on community practice placement (n = 53) identified 200 patients where at least one error was observed in 78% of participants when demonstrating inhaler technique. Prevalent errors of the users were associated with metered dose inhaler (MDI) (55.6%), Ellipta® (88.3%), and Discus® (86.7%) devices. Overall, the mean number of errors was 1.09. Possession of more than one inhaler, use of rescue inhaler, and poor control of asthma were found to be significant predictors of having at least one critical error. In all participating pharmacies, inhaler technique is mainly checked on patient request (93.0%) and for all new inhalers (79.0%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Pharmacists and Optimization of Patient Medication Use)
12 pages, 1047 KiB  
Article
Clinical Pharmacy Activities Documented (ClinPhADoc): Development, Reliability and Acceptability of a Documentation Tool for Community Pharmacists
by Nour Hamada, Patricia Quintana Bárcena, Karen Alexandra Maes, Olivier Bugnon and Jérôme Berger
Pharmacy 2019, 7(4), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7040162 - 2 Dec 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3840
Abstract
Documentation of community pharmacists’ clinical activities, such as the identification and management of drug-related problems (DRPs), is recommended. However, documentation is not systematic in Swiss community pharmacies, and relevant information about DRPs, such as consequences or involved partners, is frequently missing. This study [...] Read more.
Documentation of community pharmacists’ clinical activities, such as the identification and management of drug-related problems (DRPs), is recommended. However, documentation is not systematic in Swiss community pharmacies, and relevant information about DRPs, such as consequences or involved partners, is frequently missing. This study aims to evaluate the interrater and test-retest reliability, appropriateness and acceptability of the Clinical Pharmacy Activities Documented (ClinPhADoc) tool. Ten community pharmacists participated in the study. Interrater reliability coefficients were computed using 24 standardized cases. One month later, test-retest reliability was assessed using 10 standardized cases. To assess the appropriateness, pharmacists were asked to document clinical activities in their own practice using ClinPhADoc. Acceptability was assessed by an online satisfaction survey. Kappa coefficients showing a moderate level of agreement (>0.40) were observed for interrater and test-retest reliability. Pharmacists were able to document 131 clinical activities. The good level of acceptability and brief documentation time (fewer than seven minutes) indicate that ClinPhADoc is well-suited to the community pharmacy setting. To optimize the tool, pharmacists proposed developing an electronic version. These results support the reliability and acceptance of the ClinPhADoc tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community Pharmacists and Optimization of Patient Medication Use)
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