Essential factors demonstrating readiness of primary care practices for clinical pharmacy services

The characteristics of primary care practices that are necessary to establish and maintain ambulatory care clinical pharmacy services were identified.

A focus group of 15 ambulatory care pharmacists in Western North Carolina developed a survey of 26 practice readiness statements pertaining to the development of clinical pharmacy services in primary care. National ambulatory care pharmacy experts were then surveyed using a modified Delphi model for consensus building to determine which items were essential. Four rounds of surveys were completed. After each round, statements were accepted as consensus, modified, or removed from the survey based on responses. Statements were deemed to have reached consensus when 80% of respondents were in agreement.

A total of 6 statements reached agreement after 4 rounds of survey: (1) full integration into the team, (2) access to the electronic health record (EHR), (3) a physician or administrative champion, (4) appropriate equipment provided by the clinic, (5) a private room to see patients, and (6) a practice that is open to team-based care.

An expert panel of ambulatory care pharmacists identified 6 factors that should be considered prior to establishing ambulatory care services in primary care practices. Of these, foundational elements included full integration into the care team, presence of a physician or administrative champion, and a practice that is ready for team-based care. Operational elements included access to the practice's EHR, equipment provided by the practice, and private space to see patients.