Perceptions of community pharmacists of drug–drug interactions

Drug–drug interactions are preventable medication errors that can lead to serious negative outcomes for patients. Community pharmacists are uniquely positioned with their medication knowledge and role in prescription clinical assessment. However, workplace pressures and limitations related to computer systems can lead to drug–drug interactions being missed. There is a lack of information as to how community pharmacists assess drug interactions. A qualitative study using key informant interviews of community pharmacists was conducted. Pharmacists were questioned on their perceptions and views of drug interactions. Eight community pharmacists participated. Four main themes were identified from the interviews: 1) pharmacist process of identifying drug interactions, 2) tools that help pharmacists assess and respond to drug interactions, 3) challenges in identifying and responding to clinically important drug interactions and 4) measures to avoid missing interactions. Community pharmacists experience challenges around their lack of access to patient information, which limits their ability to properly assess drug–drug interactions. In addition, increasing workload pressures have affected their ability to ensure their patients receive optimal pharmaceutical care. There is also a disconnect between the community pharmacy computer systems’ alerts and their clinical relevancy to their specific patients. The overall burdens can lead to professional abstinence in the assessment of drug–drug interactions. Community pharmacists are in an ideal position to prevent patients from experiencing drug–drug interactions. However, to further enable them to fulfill this role, increased access to patients’ health records, decreased workload and better customization of computer alerts need to occur.