Collaboration between pharmacists and general practitioners in the health care system in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Collaboration between pharmacists and general practitioners (GPs) has been shown to enhance patient care and outcomes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the collaborative working relationship between pharmacists and GPs in terms of their attitudes, role perceptions, experience with collaborative practice, preferred method of communication, areas of current and further collaboration, and perceived barriers to interprofessional collaboration in a sample of the Iranian population. We distributed 318 questionnaires to community pharmacists and GPs in Tehran. Both groups had a positive attitude towards collaboration; however, about half the respondents reported only occasional collaborative practice. Both groups preferred communication by telephone or face-toface communication by fax or letter. Few current areas of collaboration were identified; however, an area favoured by both groups was "decision-making for patients' pharmacotherapy". The two groups expressed concern about possible fragmentation of patient care with the involvement of multiple health care providers, and perceived lack of face-to-face communication as a possible barrier to collaboration. Les deux groupes étaient favorables à la collaboration, mais près de la moitié des participants ont rapporté n'entretenir des relations de collaboration que sur une base occasionnelle. Les deux groupes ont déclaré préférer une communication par téléphone ou en face à face que par fax ou courrier. Peu de domaines faisant l'objet d'une collaboration actuelle ont été identifiés. Cependant, les deux groupes avaient pour domaine de prédilection « la prise de décision concernant la pharmacothérapie des patients ». Les deux groupes se sont dit préoccupés par une possible fragmentation des soins dispensés aux patients du fait de l'apparition de multiples prestataires de soins de santé, et percevaient le manque de communication en face à face comme une barrière potentielle à la collaboration. ‫اإلسالمية‬

Factors influencing interprofessional collaboration between community pharmacists and general practitioners—A systematic review

“…Publications originated from: Australia ( n = 12), Canada ( n = 10), Cuba ( n = 1), England ( n = 3), Germany ( n = 3), Iran ( n = 1), Ireland ( n = 2), Malaysia ( n = 1), Scotland ( n = 1), Spain ( n = 1), US ( n = 1), and Wales ( n = 1). Three studies (Hashemian, Emadi, & Roohi, ; Saw, Nissen, Freeman, Wong, & Mak, ; Varela et al., ) were conducted in lower/upper‐middle income economies (Cuba, Malaysia and Iran). Sample sizes ranged from 2 to 468 participants.…”

“…Perceptions of each professions’ skills and knowledge affected collaboration, described in 29 studies (Bidwell & Thompson, ; Bradley et al., ; Dey et al., ; Dinnie et al., ; Farrell, Pottie, Haydt, Kennie et al., ; Hashemian et al., ; Howard et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ; Laubscher et al., ; Legault et al., ; Löffler et al., ; Maidment et al., ; Moore et al., ; Pojskic et al., ; Pottie et al., , ; Rathbone et al., ; Rieck & Pettigrew, ; Rieck, ; Rubio‐Valera et al., ; Sake et al., ; Tan et al., , ; Van, Costa, Abbott, Mitchell, & Krass, ; Van et al., ; Van et al., ; Van et al., ; Varela et al., ; Weissenborn et al., ).…”

“…Factors related to professionals’ shared goals that influenced collaboration were mentioned in thirteen studies (Bidwell & Thompson, ; Bradley et al., ; Hashemian et al., ; Howard et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ; Pojskic et al., ; Pottie et al., ; Rubio‐Valera et al., ; Sake et al., ; Saw et al., ; Tan et al., , ). GPs’ and CPs’ negative expectations of collaboration, mostly related to patient care, was reported as a barrier to collaboration (Hashemian et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ).…”

“…Factors related to professionals’ shared goals that influenced collaboration were mentioned in thirteen studies (Bidwell & Thompson, ; Bradley et al., ; Hashemian et al., ; Howard et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ; Pojskic et al., ; Pottie et al., ; Rubio‐Valera et al., ; Sake et al., ; Saw et al., ; Tan et al., , ). GPs’ and CPs’ negative expectations of collaboration, mostly related to patient care, was reported as a barrier to collaboration (Hashemian et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ). Other barriers to collaboration included GPs’ concerns about patient confidentiality; for example, patients may not want to share information with pharmacists, concerns about dealing with multiple professions and its related risk to increased fragmented healthcare and duplication of tasks causing increased healthcare costs (Bradley et al., ; Hashemian et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ; Pottie et al., ; Sake et al., ).…”

“…GPs’ and CPs’ negative expectations of collaboration, mostly related to patient care, was reported as a barrier to collaboration (Hashemian et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ). Other barriers to collaboration included GPs’ concerns about patient confidentiality; for example, patients may not want to share information with pharmacists, concerns about dealing with multiple professions and its related risk to increased fragmented healthcare and duplication of tasks causing increased healthcare costs (Bradley et al., ; Hashemian et al., ; Hughes & McCann, ; Kelly et al., ; Lalonde et al., ; Pottie et al., ; Sake et al., ). Collaboration was, however, enhanced by perceived usefulness of the other profession and sometimes seen as an opportunity to take on new professional roles and an easier path to teamwork (Howard et al., ; Lalonde et al., ; Pojskic et al., ; Pottie et al., ; Rubio‐Valera et al., ; Saw et al., ; Tan et al., , ).…”