A qualitative case study exploring the implementation of pharmacist care planning services in community pharmacies

To describe the comprehensive annual care plan (CACP) process and to conceptualize how remunerated CACP services were implemented by community pharmacists.

A comparative, multiple case study approach with data comprising document review, observation, and semistructured interviews.

Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and staff, and student pharmacists from 4 different community pharmacy sites in Alberta, Canada, including independent, franchise, and corporate chain pharmacies. In addition, patients and other health care providers were included in the interviews.

Constructivist grounded theory was used to understand how care planning services were implemented in the real-world context of community pharmacies and how pharmacists provided CACPs within their practice.

Between May 2016 and January 2018, a total of 77 interviews and 94 hours of observations were completed at the 4 pharmacy sites, and 61 documents were collected. The CACP service required adaptation of the workflow at each of the sites. However, pharmacists and other pharmacy staff recognized benefits of the service with respect to pharmacists' role expansion. The overarching grounded theory concept was changing the status quo. The following 4 themes emerged representing how the service was implemented: engaging patients, professional development and learning from experience, creating a supportive environment, and building community connections.

This study found that practice change or changing the status quo was needed to implement remunerated care planning services in community pharmacies. The results of this study may be of interest to community pharmacists, pharmacy managers, and policy makers who are implementing remunerated care planning services in other jurisdictions.