Strategies and steps fostering the success of medication management services in community pharmacies

Objectives: To identify and describe the steps and strategies that community pharmacies with established medication management services have used to integrate medication management services into their practice settings.

Design: Qualitative case study with semistructured interviews and focus groups.

Setting: Community pharmacy organizations in Minnesota.

Participants: Pharmacists and pharmacy leadership from 4 different pharmacy organizations including independent, chain, and health system pharmacies.

Intervention: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: Qualitative case study analysis of community pharmacy management and pharmacists' perceptions of the factors that led to the establishment and sustainability of their medication management programs.

Results: Focus groups and interviews were undertaken with 25 pharmacists and pharmacy leaders from 4 distinct community pharmacy organizations from April to June 2015. Five themes emerged, representing specific implementation and continuation stages of medication management services in community practice: Deciding to Act, Setting the Stage, Executing the Service, Sticking to It, and Continuing to Grow.

Conclusion: This study sheds light on key stages that have commonly occurred across community pharmacies that are delivering medication management services. The results of this work may serve as a road map for other community pharmacies looking to integrate medication management services into their own practice settings.