Physician Collaboration with Pharmacists on Drug Therapy Management

Pharmacist-physician collaboration has been shown to improve the safety and cost-effectiveness of drug therapy, however, it occurs relatively infrequently in the community setting, with respect to drug therapy management. This book provides information regarding family physician attitudes towards and readiness to collaborate with community pharmacists on drug therapy management. We developed a survey instrument utilizing the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change, and administered it to a random sample of 848 family physicians in Ontario, Canada. We found that collaborative relationships between pharmacists and physicians were generally underdeveloped. System-related barriers, including pharmacists' lack of patient information, were highlighted by physicians as particularly problematic for collaborative relationship development. Our analysis sheds light on the predictors of physician readiness to collaborate with pharmacists, and provide direction for policy makers and health professionals interested in developing collaborative working relationship with physicians.