Patient-Guided Counseling in the Community Pharmacy Setting

Abstract

ObjectiveTo test a new prescription counseling method termed “patient-guided counseling” (PGC) in community pharmacies. DesignPost-test experimental design in which subjects were randomized to three groups. SettingSix community pharmacies (three chain and three independent). PatientsPatients presenting new prescriptions. InterventionsPatients were randomly assigned to one of three comparison groups. The PGC group was given a written prompt instructing them to write any questions they wished to ask about their prescription or their medical condition. The pharmacist then incorporated these questions into the subsequent verbal counseling. A second group was given a written prompt encouraging them to ask the pharmacist questions. This was followed by customary verbal counseling. A third group served as the control. No prompts were provided, but the pharmacist did provide customary verbal counseling. Main Outcome MeasuresPatients’ demographics, recall of medication information, and satisfaction with counseling. Patients were contacted by telephone 5 days after the start of drug therapy to measure compliance. Pharmacists rated their satisfaction with the information communicated and with their interactions with patients. ResultsCompared with customary verbal counseling, the PGC method was associated with more supplemental questions asked by the patient. Compared with the other two methods, PGC was associated with greater pharmacist satisfaction with the information communicated and slightly longer counseling sessions. No significant differences were found for patients’ overall satisfaction with counseling, recall of information, and compliance. ConclusionIn the community pharmacy setting, PGC fosters patient participation in medication counseling, a necessary element for the provision of pharmaceutical care.