Pharmacists were not identified as a primary resource for sports supplements, but athletes would be willing to discuss this topic with knowledgeable and physically fit pharmacists. Pharmacists felt that they lacked knowledge and confidence regarding sports supplement products but noted enthusiasm to provide counseling. Sports pharmacy counseling could be a viable expansion of pharmacy services in community pharmacies with proper education and tools.
Background: Community pharmacists' accessibility to patient histories and personal patient relationships situates them to have a potentially significant impact on transitions of care. Recent literature has demonstrated that improved patient outcomes and an overall reduction in health care costs occur when pharmacists are involved in medication reconciliation during transitions of care. Objective: To develop a transitions of care training module for community pharmacists. To assess the training module's impact on pharmacists' transition of care knowledge and their attitude toward actively participating in the transitions of care for their patients. Methods: Community pharmacists practicing in a supermarket pharmacy chain participated in this study. A pretest and posttest were administered around a 30-minute transitions of care training module. The attitude assessment consisted of a 5-point Likert-type scale, while the knowledge-based assessment consisted of true/false and multiple-choice questions. SPSS version 21.0 was used to generate descriptive and nonparametric statistical analyses. The study was approved by the University of Toledo Social, Behavioral, and Educational Institutional Review Board. Results: Thirty-six pharmacists (72%) successfully completed the pre-post survey. The average pharmacist posttest knowledge survey score improved from the pretest score, 73% to 99%. A paired Student's t test demonstrated the posttest percentage of correct questions on the knowledge-based survey improved from the baseline knowledge. Pharmacists' average posttest attitudes regarding participation in patients' transitions of care statistically improved compared to their pretest attitudes. Conclusion: Community pharmacists' transitions of care knowledge and attitudes can be improved through a training module.
Background: As clinical services expand in community pharmacies, access to patient information through a health information exchange (HIE) may be of increased benefit to patient care. Objectives: To identify perceptions and barriers to the use of HIE by high-performing clinical pharmacists within a grocery store chain and collect other health care provider perceptions of using HIE. Methods: Two web-based surveys consisting of multiple choice, select all that apply, and 5-point Likert-type scale questions were administered via email to Ohio pharmacists working in high clinical performing pharmacies and Ohio health care providers utilizing CliniSync, an Ohio-based HIE program. Outcomes measured included pharmacist perceptions of preparedness to participate in HIE, their relationship with patients and health care providers, and barriers to utilizing HIE. Provider outcomes included perceptions of relationships with patients, awareness of community pharmacy services, referral habits, and perceived benefit of a HIE. Results: Pharmacists tend to believe they have the skill (median 5, interquartile range [IQR] 1) and desire (median 5, IQR 1) to be a part of the HIE network. Pharmacists appear confident in their abilities to provide patient care as a part of HIE networks (median 4, IQR 1). While 66% of providers surveyed are aware of services provided by community pharmacists, 75% state that they do not refer patients to a pharmacy for those services. Conclusion: Implementing HIE into clinical pharmacy workflow and encouraging providers to use it to make patient health information available to pharmacists would provide additional information for pharmacists to review when providing clinical services in the community pharmacy setting, ultimately benefiting patient care.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.