Chase Reece, BSHP '24

While in the office today, I continued to search for CDTM literature and analyze the results regarding pharmacist and physician perceptions. One specific study utilized the transtheoretical model to assess the readiness of physicians to work with community pharmacists through collaborative agreements. The study found that over 70% of physicians already reported directly communicating with pharmacists each week. However, the majority of communication focused on dispensing rather than drug therapy management. Specific disadvantages of CDTM that physicians mentioned included pharmacists’ lack of patient information, increased liability, and encroachment of the pharmacist on the physician’s field of expertise. Advantages mentioned included more accurate patient medication lists, ability to delegate time-consuming tasks, availability of a health professional to monitor the safety and effectiveness of drug therapies, and availability of a health professional familiar with clinical guidelines for instituting drug therapy. The study also found that 78% of physicians were actively seeking pharmacist recommendations, while only 28% were referring patients to pharmacists for medication reviews. There was no significant difference in rural versus urban physicians’ readiness to collaborate. Overall, the study highlights the importance of providing access to full patient records for pharmacists to ensure better collaboration, in addition to emphasizing the advantages of collaboration among physicians.