Communication system between community pharmacists and primary care professionals. From a small project to a tool ready to jump

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to establish, through agreed protocols, a communication procedure for community pharmacists (CP) to address daily medication errors and other administrative problems involving communication between primary care professionals.

Material: A six-month pilot study was conducted at the Donostialdea Integrated Health Organization (IHO), followed by a one-year major investigation. Then the project was extended to other IHOs. CPs detected medication errors or other administrative problems requiring communication with primary care professionals. To solve these, CPs contacted administrative staff by telephone in case of urgent problems and by e-mail in case of non-urgent ones.

Results: 49 community pharmacies participated in the study. A total of 1,179 medication errors and other administrative problems were detected, and more than 90% of the problems were resolved within 24 hours (n = 1079, 91.5%). E-mail was the most widely used method of communication (n = 874, 74.1%), and the most common problems were non-prescriptions (n = 766, 65.0%) or medicactions that were about to expire (n = 226, 19.2%). Most of the participants were happy with the program.

Conclusion: This communication procedure between CP and primary care professionals is an effective tool for solving a number of problems in community pharmacies. As a result, and on the basis of this programme, a tool that can be extended throughout the Basque Country is turning on.