What services do people seek when they visit a community pharmacy care clinic?

Community pharmacy care clinics were established to improve access to clinical pharmacy services and help address the primary care crisis. This study reports characteristics of people who accessed the first clinic to open in Alberta and services they sought during the first 7 months of operation.

This cross-sectional study examined information collected from self-reported intake forms submitted when individuals visited the clinic in Lethbridge, Alberta. Individuals seeking services between June 24, 2022 and January 31, 2023 were eligible for inclusion.

A total of 3305 people visited the clinic 4962 times and submitted 3831 intake forms with 4917 reasons for seeking care. Mean age was 32 years (range 0 to 96) and 62% were female. Almost 1 in 3 (32%) reported not having a family physician and 9% reported they usually access medical care in an emergency department (ED) or walk-in clinic. Assessment of an acute common ailment (e.g., pharyngitis, sinus symptoms, urinary tract infections) was the most common reason (80%) for visiting the clinic, followed by chronic disease management (e.g., review of medications, mental health, hypertension) (14%), and point-of-care testing or immunization (3%). Individuals who did not have a family physician were more likely to have ≥2 clinic visits (p < 0.01) and seek care for chronic disease management (p < 0.01). Of those who usually access care in an ED or walk-in clinic, 67% of the reasons to visit the clinic were for common ailments and 26% were for chronic disease management.

The community pharmacy care clinic has improved access to a wide variety of individuals who visited the clinic with a broad range of complaints.