Pharmaceutical Care in Canada An Exploratory Study of 81 Community Pharmacies

• Published in: Canadian pharmacists journal Vol. 138; no. 4; pp. 46 - 50
• Main Authors: Ramaswamy-Krishnarajan, John, Hill, David S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2005; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Drug stores; Health care; Pharmacists; Services; Canada
• ISSN: 1715-1635; 1913-701X
• DOI: 10.1177/171516350513800409

Respondent pharmacies were categorized based on an ownership classification system defined by the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores. Drugstore chain pharmacies included such pharmacies as Shoppers Drug Mart, London Drugs, Pharmaprix, and Jean Coutu. Grocery-store chain pharmacies included pharmacies in Safeway, Save-on Food and Drugs, and Extra Foods. Massmerchandiser chain pharmacies included pharmacies in Zellers/The Bay and Wal-Mart. Independent (banner) pharmacies included pharmacies such as People's Drug Mart and Pharmasave. Responses from independent pharmacies represented the largest subgroup of pharmacy ownership type (about 73%). Although a greater percentage of highest-quartile subgroup pharmacies reported allocation of more hours for pharmaceutical care activities than those in the lowest-quartile subgroup, it was not found to be statistically significant (p = 0.09) (Table 3). In the highest-quartile subgroup, 45% of the pharmacies allocated four hours or more per day, while only 12.5% of the lowest-quartile subgroup pharmacies allocated a similar number of hours for pharmaceutical care activities. As expected, a large proportion (87.5%) of the pharmacies in the lowest-quartile subgroup allocated relatively few (0-3) hours per day toward pharmaceutical care activities; the comparable proportion in the highest-quartile subgroup pharmacies was somewhat smaller (55%). The mean performance of the Canadian respondents on the BPCS in this survey (95.3, SD = 26.5) was higher than that reported in an initial study using the BPCS in a sample of 617 community pharmacists in Florida. The mean score in that study was 80.8 (SD = 26.8).6 The BPCS performance of the Canadian study group was also higher than another study involving 230 community pharmacists in Northern Ireland. The mean BPCS score in that study was 74.7 (SD = 193).10 The Canadian respondents in this study also demonstrated higher average performance on the BPCS than their international comparators. Interestingly, 21.6% of all Canadian respondents specifically allocated more than four hours per day for pharmaceutical care-related activities (Table 3). This provides a useful indication of the level of acceptance of a pharmaceutical care style among Canadian community pharmacy practices. The BPCS performance of the HQ subgroup, as well as the pattern of workflow and design features evident among these innovative community pharmacy practices, offers a glimpse at the level of acceptance of the pharmaceutical care philosophy and standards within mainstream community pharmacy practices in Canada.