Hawes EM, Page C, Galloway E, McClurg MR, Lombardi B. Pharmacists Colocated With Primary Care Physicians: Understanding Delivery of Interprofessional Primary Care.
Med Care 2024;
62:87-92. [PMID:
38051204 DOI:
10.1097/mlr.0000000000001960]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
While evidence supports interprofessional primary care models that include pharmacists, the extent to which pharmacists are working in primary care and the factors associated with colocation is unknown.
OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to analyze the physical colocation of pharmacists with primary care providers (PCPs) and examine predictors associated with colocation.
RESEARCH DESIGN
This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of pharmacists and PCPs with individual National Provider Identifiers in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System's database. Pharmacist and PCP practice addresses of the health care professionals were geocoded, and distances less than 0.1 miles were considered physically colocated.
SUBJECTS
In all, 502,373 physicians and 221,534 pharmacists were included.
RESULTS
When excluding hospital-based pharmacists, 1 in 10 (11%) pharmacists were colocated with a PCP. Pharmacists in urban settings were more likely to be colocated than those in rural areas (OR=1.32, CI: 1.26-1.38). Counties with the highest proportion of licensed pharmacists per 100,000 people in the county had higher colocation (OR=1.38, CI: 1.32-1.45). Colocation was significantly higher in states with an expanded scope of practice (OR 1.37, CI: 1.32-1.42) and those that have expanded Medicaid (OR 1.07, CI: 1.03-1.11). Colocated pharmacists more commonly worked in larger physician practices.
CONCLUSION
Although including pharmacists on primary care teams improves clinical outcomes, reduces health care costs, and enhances patient and provider experience, colocation appears to be unevenly dispersed across the United States, with lower rates in rural areas. As the integration of pharmacists in primary care continues to expand, knowing the prevalence and facilitators of growth will be helpful to policymakers, researchers, and clinical administrators.
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