Rakvaag H, SØreide GE, Meland E, Kjome RL. Complementing or conflicting? How pharmacists and physicians position the community pharmacist.
Pharm Pract (Granada) 2020;
18:2078. [PMID:
33029263 PMCID:
PMC7523557 DOI:
10.18549/pharmpract.2020.3.2078]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background:
Interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and physicians in primary
care has been linked to improved patient outcomes. How professionals
position themselves and each other can shed light upon their relationship,
and positioning theory can be used as a tool to better understand intergroup
relations.
Objectives:
1) To identify how community pharmacists position themselves, and how they
are positioned by general practitioners. 2) To assess how well these
positions correspond, how the positions align with a proactive position for
the pharmacists, and discuss how the positions could potentially impact
collaboration.
Methods:
In this qualitative study, data were collected through six focus group
interviews held between June and October 2019, three with pharmacists and
three with physicians. The focus group interviews were conducted using a
semi-structured interview guide. Data were audio recorded, transcribed
verbatim, and analyzed using the Systematic text condensation method.
Positioning theory was used as a theoretical framework to identify the
positions assigned to community pharmacists by the pharmacists themselves
and by the physicians.
Results:
Twelve pharmacists and ten physicians participated. The pharmacists
positioned themselves as the “last line of defense”,
“bridge-builders”, “outsiders” – with
responsibility, but with a lack of information and authority – and
“practical problem solvers”. The physicians positioned
pharmacists as “a useful checkpoint”,
“non-clinicians” and “unknown”.
Conclusions:
The study revealed both commonalities and disagreements in how community
pharmacists position themselves and are positioned by general practitioners.
Few of the positions assigned to pharmacists by the physicians support an
active role for the pharmacists, while the pharmacists´ positioning
of themselves is more diverse. The physicians´ positioning of
pharmacists as an unknown group represents a major challenge for
collaboration. Increasing the two professions´ knowledge of each
other may help produce new positions that are more coordinated, and thus
more supportive towards collaboration.
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