Identifying Services Provided in Community Pharmacy Practice Settings.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Community pharmacists are evolving beyond dispensing to medication management and patient care.
• This evolution aims to better meet diverse patient needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the range of services provided by community pharmacists.
• To identify factors associated with the delivery of these services using data from the 2019 National Pharmacist Workforce Study (NPWS).

Main Methods:

• An online survey was administered to a systematic random sample of U.S. pharmacists.
• Data from 2,150 community pharmacists were analyzed using regression to examine service delivery based on practice characteristics.

Main Results:

• Top services included vaccine administration (91.1%), medication assistance programs (83.7%), naloxone dispensing (72.8%), and medication synchronization (67.2%).
• Supermarket pharmacies reported a higher service index than large chain pharmacies.
• Increased technicians, CPESN participation, primary care communication, CPA practice, and monitoring activities correlated with higher service indices.

Conclusions:

• Operational characteristics of community pharmacies significantly impact the delivery of expanded services.
• Findings support the ongoing transformation of community pharmacy practice and can inform future service development.