General practitioners' perceptions on home medicines reviews: a qualitative analysis

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Pharmaceutical Services
• General Practice

Background:

• The Home Medicines Review (HMR) is an Australian initiative established in 2001 to enhance the quality use of medicines.
• Medication management services, including HMRs, are recognized for their potential to mitigate medication-related problems.
• Programmatic changes in 2011 introduced direct referral pathways to accredited pharmacists to improve HMR process efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the perceptions of Western Australian general practitioners (GPs) regarding the benefits and barriers associated with the Home Medicines Review (HMR) service.
• To explore GPs' insights into the direct referral model within the HMR program.

Main Methods:

• Purposive sampling was employed to recruit GPs with established experience in the HMR service.
• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 GPs across 14 metropolitan Western Australian medical centers between March and May 2013.
• Interview data were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis.

Main Results:

• The majority of GPs expressed positive attitudes towards the HMR service.
• Key perceived benefits included poly-pharmacy reduction and enhanced education for both GPs and patients.
• Identified areas for service improvement involved implementing a standard HMR report template for pharmacists and leveraging technology more effectively.
• While reliability and GP familiarity were noted benefits of the direct referral model, patient unfamiliarity with HMR pharmacists emerged as a barrier.

Conclusions:

• Participating GPs acknowledged the value of the HMR service but indicated opportunities for enhancement.
• Addressing identified areas for improvement is crucial for increasing HMR utilization, as GP engagement is a critical success factor for the program.