Just a ‘romantic idea’? A theory-based interview study on medication review implementation with pharmacy owners

BACKGROUND: Recent legal changes in Germany entitle patients on multiple medications to receive a medication review (MR). However, the provision of MRs is not mandatory and pharmacy owners decide whether to implement this service in their pharmacies. AIM: To determine pharmacy owners’ attitudes towards MRs, explore their experiences with MR implementation and examine their perceptions of barriers and facilitators towards implementation of MRs in community pharmacies. METHOD: Pharmacy owners were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used with selection criteria being MR-implementation stage, and geographical location of the pharmacy. The topic guide was based on a systematic review and the Framework for Implementation of Services in Pharmacy (FISpH). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded directly against the FISpH. RESULTS: Twenty-one pharmacy owners were interviewed. Despite participants’ consistent positive attitude towards MRs, most believed that providing MRs on an economically viable basis would be challenging. Several practical suggestions emerged which would enable community pharmacies a smoother implementation of MRs. Suggestions included employing ‘change facilitators’, who visit and support implementing pharmacies; national awareness campaigns targeting patients and health professionals; reducing bureaucracy; continuing professional development; involving technicians in some MR-tasks; and offering an additional incentive to lower the initial implementation threshold. CONCLUSION: This research identified numerous factors that are likely to increase owners’ and managers’ support to the idea of MRs. This may be of interest to any country planning implementation of MRs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11096-022-01524-2.