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Pharmacists' experience with prescribing hormonal contraception in Oregon
Objectives:
To describe Oregon pharmacy practices in provision of hormonal contraception (HC) and evaluate if pharmacists' motivation to prescribe changed after 6 and 12 months of experience.
Methods:
Pharmacists practicing in Oregon who underwent the mandatory HC training were eligible to take this survey. The survey was launched 6 months after policy implementation; pharmacists who responded to the initial survey were eligible to be queried again at 12 months. Survey responses were anonymous, but pharmacists received a unique identifier so that responses could be linked between the 2 surveys. The survey consisted of pharmacy and pharmacist demographics and questions exploring attitudes toward prescribing HC and prescribing practices (e.g., cost, time needed for visit) and volume estimates. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze responses as well as the differences in key outcomes between 6 and 12 months.
Results:
A total of 732 pharmacists were eligible to take the survey; 121 pharmacists responded to the 6-month survey (16.5% response rate), and 62 completed the 12-month survey (52% response rate). A large increase in the distribution of pharmacists prescribing HC by zip code occurred between 6 and 12 months: 19% and 63%, respectively. At both 6 and 12 months, almost one-half of all pharmacists were billing insurance for the visit, and the average visit took less than 30 minutes. The top 3 motivators for providing HC did not change over time and included increasing access, reducing unintended pregnancy, and increasing pharmacist scope of practice.
Conclusion:
One year after program implementation, pharmacist prescribing of HC continues to increase and is distributed widely across the state. A geographically diverse sample of Oregon pharmacists began prescribing of hormonal contraception within 12 months of Oregon's implementation of the new pharmacist provision policy. Their experience and the success of the program provide a roadmap for pharmacist participation to increase access to hormonal contraception.