Which providers should communicate which critical information about a new medication? Patient, pharmacist, and physician perspectives.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate older patient, pharmacist, and physician perspectives about what information is essential to impart to patients receiving new medication prescriptions and who should provide the information.


METHODS
Qualitative focus group discussions.


METHODS
Senior centers, retail pharmacies, and primary care physician offices.


METHODS
Forty-two patients aged 65 and older, 13 pharmacists, and 17 physicians participated in eight focus groups.


METHODS
Qualitative analysis of transcribed focus group interviews and consensus through iterative review by multidisciplinary auditors.


RESULTS
Patient, pharmacist, and physician groups all affirmed the importance of discussing medication directions and side effects and said that physicians should educate about side effects and that pharmacists could adequately counsel about certain important issues. However, there was substantial disagreement between groups about which provider could communicate which critical elements of medication-related information. Some pharmacists felt that they were best equipped to discuss medication-related issues but acknowledged that many patients want physicians to do this. Physicians tended to believe that they should provide most new-medication education for patients. Patients had mixed preferences. Patients aged 80 and older listed fewer critical topics of discussion than younger patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients, pharmacists, and physicians have incongruent beliefs about who should provide essential medication-related information. Differing expectations could lead to overlapping, inefficient efforts that result in communication deficiencies when patients receive a new medication. Collaborative efforts to ensure that patients receive complete information about new medications could be explored.
Tarn
Derjung M
DM
Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA. dtarn@mednet.ucla.edu
Paterniti
Debora A
DA
Williams
Bradley R
BR
Cipri
Camille S
CS
Wenger
Neil S
NS
D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003142:Communication; D003469:Culture; D004346:Drug Information Services; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010595:Pharmacists; D010820:Physicians