Pharmacist counseling at the start of therapy: patient receptivity to offers of in-person and subsequent telephonic clinical support.

Patients who newly start prescription medications for chronic conditions are often in need of additional support related to both their condition and treatment. When patients initially fill their prescriptions, the offer of pharmacist counseling is considered standard practice from a professional and regulatory standpoint, but little is known about how well this offer actually satisfies patient needs. This was the focus of our study: Within a few weeks of newly starting medications, 100 patients were contacted telephonically by a nurse to engage them in a support program for their conditions. During those calls, the nurse used a brief questionnaire to determine each patient's recollection of the offer of local community pharmacist counseling at the time that they filled their prescription, and their current receptivity to immediate telephonic pharmacist support. Fifty-eight percent of patients did not recall being offered counseling at their local community pharmacy, and 11% declined the offer at that time, yielding 69% of patients who did not receive local pharmacist counseling when filling their initial prescription. An additional 12% (39% of patients counseled) were not satisfied with the information received. Among the 81% of surveyed patients who did not receive counseling or were dissatisfied with the counseling they did receive, 75% accepted the offer of telephonic support by a specialist pharmacist. Our findings suggest that many patients with chronic conditions have a need and a desire for pharmacist counseling about new medications that is unmet in the local community pharmacy setting. Telephonic pharmacist support can help address this need if offered within weeks of the new prescription.