Research Center, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada; Department of Management, Evaluation & Health Policy, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Canada.
Res Social Adm Pharm. 2021 Feb;17(2):428-440. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.03.001. Epub 2020 Mar 13.
Mobilizing pharmacists practicing in community pharmacies as a new player in primary care has recently emerged as a cost-effective strategy for clinical consultations related to minor ailments. However, little is known about these consultations initiated by patients. The objectives of this study were to describe patient initiated consultations in community pharmacies, and to estimate the impact of these consultations on care-seeking behaviors of patients.
A cross sectional study was conducted in 11 retail pharmacies in Quebec, Canada, from October until December 2017, using two data sources: 1) an application and 2) structured interviews. Pharmacists had to compile all consultations in the app during a 4 week-period. Consenting patients were interviewed on the day of the consultation and one week after. Descriptive statistics on the number of consultations were calculated, as well as on the recommendation and the experience of the patient.
A total number of 4994 consultations were entered in the app by 55 pharmacists, with an average of 18 consultations (SD = 7) per pharmacy per day. Of the 900 patients consented to participate to the study, 600 (67%) completed the two interviews. Pharmacists reported that they recommended another healthcare resource to patients (e.g. emergency department (ED), walk-in clinic) in only 15% of cases. In the week following the consultation, 105 (18%) patients reported that they avoided going to the ED as a result of the consultation. Patients in rural regions or consulting in a pharmacy far from a medical clinic were more likely to report avoiding an ED visit as a result of the consultation with the pharmacist.
This study suggests that patients are seeking advice from pharmacists for a variety of health care concerns and that pharmacists are able to manage most of these consultations, with a high level of patient satisfaction.
将在社区药店工作的药剂师作为初级保健的新参与者调动起来，最近已成为与小病相关的临床咨询的一种具有成本效益的策略。但是，对于患者发起的这些咨询知之甚少。本研究的目的是描述社区药店中患者发起的咨询，并估计这些咨询对患者寻求医疗服务行为的影响。
2017 年 10 月至 12 月，在加拿大魁北克的 11 家零售药店中进行了一项横断面研究，使用了两种数据源：1）应用程序和 2）结构化访谈。药剂师必须在 4 周内使用应用程序编译所有咨询内容。同意参加研究的患者在咨询当天和一周后接受采访。计算了咨询次数的描述性统计数据，以及建议和患者的体验。
55 名药剂师在应用程序中输入了 4994 次咨询，每家药店平均每天有 18 次咨询（SD=7）。在同意参加研究的 900 名患者中，有 600 名（67％）完成了两次访谈。药剂师报告说，他们仅在 15％的情况下建议患者另寻医疗资源（例如急诊室（ED），门诊诊所）。在咨询后的一周内，有 105 名（18％）患者报告说，由于与药剂师的咨询，他们避免去急诊室就诊。居住在农村地区或在远离医疗诊所的药店就诊的患者更有可能因与药剂师的咨询而避免去急诊室就诊。
本研究表明，患者正在向药剂师寻求各种医疗保健建议，并且药剂师能够处理大多数咨询，患者满意度很高。
