Pharmacist–Technician Teamwork in Hypertension Management Services in Community Pharmacies: Effects of Team Composition and Environmental Factors

Abstract

Expanding patient care in community pharmacy necessitates effective pharmacy team efforts. This paper examines pharmacist-technician teams and examines whether team composition and environmental factors influenced team agreement and communication regarding a novel hypertension management program. Methods: Data were gathered via self-administered survey completed by each member of 12 pharmacist–technician pairs. Analysis used Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Outcome measures were: 1) team agreement on (a) technician tasks and (b) pharmacist tasks and 2) team communication. Two types of conditions (i.e., potential predictors) were examined: team composition (indicated by pharmacist experience and pharmacist experience relative to technician experience) and environmental factors (indicated by auxiliary support in the pharmacy, pharmacy workload, and economic status of the neighborhood). Outcomes and conditions were constructed in continuous fuzzy sets for analysis. A plausible causal configuration was deemed relevant if at least one case exhibited this particular configuration; a configurationwas considered a sufficient solution for an outcome it met the consistency benchmark (set at 0.9). Results: Team agreement on technician tasks was higher when: (1) a pharmacist was paired with a more senior technician in a pharmacy that had higher auxiliary support and (2) an experienced pharmacist worked in a low-workload pharmacy in a less affluent neighborhood. Agreement on pharmacist tasks was higher when: (1) a pharmacy had a low workload and higher auxiliary support and (2) an inexperienced pharmacist was in a low-workload pharmacy in a more affluent neighborhood. Only one configuration was associated with the two communication variables. The team had more discussion about tasks when the pharmacist was more senior than the technician. Greater communication was reported when the pharmacist was more senior and the pharmacy had greater auxiliary support. Conclusions: Results begin to identify team composition and pharmacy environment factors that promote (or impede) team agreement. They suggest ways to enhance pharmacy team-building.