General Practitioners’ Views on Pharmacists Potential Contributions to Medication-Related Services in New Zealand

Abstract

s / Research in Social and Admin sharing between providers and healthcare settings was the key. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that changes may be necessary at several levels (i.e. consumer, provider and environmental) before an effective interprofessional approach to SDM in mental health can be implemented. General Practitioners’ Views on Pharmacists Potential Contributions to Medication-Related Services in New Zealand E. Hatah, R. Braund, S. Duffull, J. Tordoff, School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin New Zealand, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate general practitioners’ (GPs) perceptions of pharmacists’ contributions to medication-related services using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. The specific services discussed were medication review and prescribing. Methods: In 2011, qualitative, face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 18 GPs from two localities in New Zealand were undertaken. The cohorts of GPs included those with differing years of practice and whose patients had or had not undergone a pharmacist-lead adherence support medication review (Medication Use Review, MUR). GPs were asked their opinions of pharmacist’s provision of MUR, clinical medication review and prescribing. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo 8 and grouped by SWOT category. TheUniversity of Otago Ethics Committee gave approval for the study. Results: The SWOT analysis revealed that GPs’ thought their own skills and training in diagnosis and treatment and knowledge of clinical conditions were their major strengths. GPs’ weaknesses were limited time for medication reviews, heavy workloads and limitations in knowledge of pharmacology. GPs thought pharmacists had strengths in the latter and might have more time for in depth review of medications if funded by the health system to do so. However, GPs perceived the new medication-related services by pharmacists could confuse the patients and might increase GP workloads. GPs thought pharmacists might have a limited role in medication review or prescribing but would prefer that such activities took place in a GP’s surgery. Conclusions: GPs perceived their own skills were wellsuited to reviewing medication and prescribing for patients but acknowledged some weaknesses such as lack of time for in-depth review and a limited knowledge of pharmacology. They thought that pharmacists had strengths in these areas and that there was a possibility of working collaboratively together with pharmacists in these services in the future if collocation of activities occurred. Factors Predicting GP-Pharmacist Interprofessional Collaboration in Primary Care from the Pharmacist's Perspective: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach C. Van, D. Costa, B. Mitchell, P. Abbott, I. Krass, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, Australia, School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Australia, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney,