gms | German Medical Science

Background: Despite provided national data on outcomes [1], [2], [3], implementation of Medication Review and Medication Management into routine care of pharmacists shows little progress in Germany in 2017. Although it has been voted as the future core activity of pharmacists [4], education remains unchanged and pharmacists’ organizations did not reach any contract with healthcare stakeholders so far. Besides missing clinical education, further barriers for pharmaceutical care services are expected to appear in interprofessional collaboration with general practitioners (GPs) [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. Better understanding of the GP`s perception of collaboration with pharmacists is expected to facilitate future implementation of Medication Review and was the aim of this study.

Materials and Methods: All GPs, who participated in the WestGem study on collaborative Medication Management were approached for follow-up interviews in 2016, one year after the study was concluded. The WestGem study analyzed changes in the Medication Appropriateness Index as a measure of quality of therapy and was conducted as a cluster randomized trial. The investigator appeared as a University affiliated researcher. Interviews were recorded and written down. Results of this qualitative approach are presented descriptively.

Results: The study covered 6 GPs who were responsible for 78 former study patients, representing 55% of the study population. Physicians were 58 years old on average, mostly male (66.6%) and personally responsible for their clinic. They mentioned better insight into the patient’s drug regimen and an improvement in patient safety as achievements of collaboration with pharmacists. Limited time in daily practice was found to be a major cause to prevent translation of results of the Medication Review to the patients’ drug regimen.

Conclusion: Most GPs of the study appreciated collaboration with pharmacists on drug therapy. A future collaboration should be tailored to the tight working schedule of a GP in daily practice. Medication Reviews need to be concise and prioritized. As implementing potential suggestions to the patient`s drug regimen is time consuming, GPs efforts need to be acknowledged and reimbursed.