Canadian Pharmacists Journal - May/June 2019 - 193

827980
research-article

CPHXXX10.1177/1715163519827980C P J / R P CC P J / R P C

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

PeeR-ReViewed

ORIGINAL RESEARCH * PEER-REvIEwEd

Community pharmacists'
experiences with the Saskatchewan
Medication Assessment Program
Krysta Currie, BSP, MSc; Charity Evans, BSP, PhD; Kerry Mansell, BSP, PharmD;
Jason Perepelkin, BA, BComm, MSc, PhD; Derek Jorgenson, BSP, PharmD, FCSHP

AbstrAct
Background: the saskatchewan Medication
Assessment Program (sMAP) is a publicly funded
community pharmacy-based medication assessment service with limited previous evaluation.
the purpose of this study was to explore community pharmacists' experiences with the sMAP.
Methods: Online, self-administered questionnaire
that consisted of a combination of 53 Likert scale
and free-text questions. All licensed pharmacists
who were practising in a community pharmacy setting in saskatchewan were eligible to participate.
Results: response rate was 20.3% (n = 228/1124).
Most respondents agreed that the sMAP is

achieving all of its intended purposes. For example, 89.7% agreed that the sMAP improved medication safety for patients who receive the service. Most pharmacists enjoyed performing the
assessments (84.6%) and were confident in their
ability to identify drug-related problems (88.3%).
Pharmacists reported lack of time, patients having difficulty coming to the pharmacy and restrictive eligibility criteria as the top barriers to the
sMAP. Good teamwork, employer support and
personal professional commitment were the
top recognized facilitators. respondents made
several suggestions to improve the sMAP in the
free-text areas of the questionnaire.

Conclusions: community pharmacists in saskatchewan were positive and confident about performing medication assessments, and most agreed that the sMAP is achieving all of the intended purposes.
respondents also identified several barriers to providing sMAP services, which have resulted in specific
recommendations that should be addressed to improve the program. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2019;152:193-203.

Background

Over the past decade, there has been a significant expansion of publicly funded clinical
services available for pharmacists to provide.1
Pharmacist-led medication assessment programs have become particularly common in
Canada, and many provincial drug plans now
reimburse community pharmacies for providing
these services.1 The goals of medication assessment programs are typically similar and include
educating patients about their medications
and optimizing patient care by identifying and
resolving drug-related problems.
C P J / R P C * M ay / J u n e 2 0 1 9 * V O L 1 5 2 , N O 3

Several studies suggest pharmacist-led medication assessments can improve measures such
as patient quality of life, medication appropriateness, patient knowledge, blood pressure and
cholesterol levels, patient loyalty and satisfaction
and identification of drug-related problems.2-8
However, many of these studies were based on
programs outside of Canada, and consequently,
published research on Canadian medication
assessment programs is limited. For instance,
only 2 studies were identified that examined
health professional perceptions of the programs
in Ontario and British Columbia, identifying

As a pharmacist experiencing the rewards and
challenges of integrating
professional services into
dispensing activities in
community pharmacy,
I was interested in
exploring pharmacists'
experiences with the
Saskatchewan Medication
Assessment Program.
Through identifying the
barriers and facilitators
faced, I hoped to provide
insights into program
improvements to enhance
patient care.
À titre de pharmacien
qui expérimente l'aspect
gratifiant mais exigeant
d'intégrer des services professionnels aux activités
de délivrance de médicaments dans une pharmacie communautaire, je
souhaitais examiner de
plus près l'expérience des
pharmaciens en lien avec
le programme d'évaluation
des médicaments de la
Saskatchewan (SMAP).
En déterminant les barrières et les agents de facilitation, j'espère fournir un
aperçu des améliorations
à apporter au programme
pour améliorer les soins
aux patients.

© The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/1715163519827980
193
https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/journals-permissions
Canadian Pharmacists Journal - May/June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Pharmacists Journal - May/June 2019
