Exploring community pharmacists' perceptions of their professional relationships with physicians, in Canada and the Netherlands

Objective — To explore community pharmacists' levels of interaction with, and perceptions of, physicians in primary care in Canada and the NetherlandsMethod — Interviews with community pharmacistsSetting — Thirty‐six community pharmacies in Vancouver, Canada, and 36 in the Nijmegen and Arnhem areas of the NetherlandsKey findings — Dutch pharmacists were more likely to have “face‐to‐face contacts with the physician in the pharmacy setting” ( P =0.008) and structured professional meetings with physicians ( P <0.001). Canadian pharmacists were more likely to agree that “interaction with physicians is mainly limited to phone/fax” ( P <0.001) and “the concept of pharmaceutical care is difficult to implement” ( P =0.006). Qualitative analysis revealed that in both countries pharmacists had concerns about the attitudes of physicians and issues concerning territoriality. There were also many constructive comments and these enabled consideration of actions to enhance patient careConclusion — The findings of the study suggest four areas which could contribute to improved patient care: (1) Increasing levels of professional interaction; (2) developing a mutual understanding of roles; (3) participating in joint initiatives to benefit patients through the extended role of pharmacists; (4) conducting structured meetings between professionals with an emphasis on the care of individual patients