Community pharmacy & primary care integration: qualitative study on stakeholders' opinions and interventions

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Pharmacy Practice
• Primary Care Integration

Background:

• Global health systems face significant pressure, necessitating efficiency improvements.
• Integration of healthcare services is a potential strategy to enhance system performance.
• Community pharmacy integration into primary healthcare is explored to address system pressures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To gather stakeholder opinions on integrating community pharmacy and primary healthcare.
• To explore and prioritize interventions for an initial integration plan between community pharmacies and primary care.

Main Methods:

• A two-phase qualitative study using a constructivist approach in the Basque Country, Spain.
• Thematic analysis of focus groups and semi-structured interviews (Phase 1).
• Nominal group technique to prioritize integration interventions (Phase 2).

Main Results:

• Stakeholders perceived integration as collaboration, communication, or cooperation.
• Positive perceptions of community pharmacies, but concerns regarding their commercial nature.
• Identified barriers included communication gaps and proposed a shift to service-based remuneration for pharmacists.
• Prioritized interventions: bidirectional communication, interprofessional protocols, and pharmacist participation in primary care meetings.

Conclusions:

• Three interventions are proposed to initiate community pharmacy and primary care integration.
• Implementation requires negotiation with authorities and subsequent evaluation.
• Stakeholder input is crucial for developing effective integration strategies.