Associations of Community Pharmacists' Practices With Participation in Multidisciplinary Team Conferences in Japanese...

To identify specific pharmacists' practices associated with participation in multidisciplinary team conferences and meetings such as pre-visit conferences, predischarge conferences, and care planning meetings in Japanese home-based care.

An online survey was conducted for community pharmacists involved in home-based care across Japan in 2023. We compared the implementation of daily pharmacists' practices between those who participated in multidisciplinary team conferences and meetings and those who did not. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the associations of individual pharmacists' practices with participation in multidisciplinary team conferences and meetings.

This study included 1151 community pharmacists, with 676 pharmacists (59%) participating in multidisciplinary team conferences and meetings. Daily practice associated with participation in these conferences and meetings included collecting information on how to store and set medications (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34-2.59), confirmation of medication intake (aOR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.06-1.91), and gathering information on medication prescribed at other medical institutions (aOR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.42-2.51).

We identified some daily practices, including collecting medication management information, gathering all prescription details, and confirming medication intake, which were associated with participation in multidisciplinary team conferences for community pharmacists. Facilitating these practices could further enhance interprofessional collaboration, facilitate the standardization of home-based pharmaceutical care practices, and inform the optimization of future medical fees to ensure high-quality patient support.