Re-Engineering Collaborative Practice in Primary Care: Integrating Community Pharmacy to the Clinic; Creating a Pharmacy Referral and Quality Circle

Abstract

Pharmacy practice is part of a value chain made up of suppliers(S), inputs(I), processes(P), outputs(O), and customers(C). The interface between community pharmacies and clinic-based prescribers is complicated by challenges related to gaps in the design of the chain. The supplier-input-process-outcome-customer (SIPOC) model can be used to re-engineer the chain: integrating an intervening clinical pharmacist in the interface creates a structure for interprofessional collaboration and communication across the interface. This innovation has important implications for patient referral between clinic and pharmacy, and the future role and scope of all patient-facing pharmacists.

Keywords

• pharmacy referral; community pharmacy; collaborative care; process re-engineering; primary care; quality circle; integration