It’s a good idea, but are they willing? Assessing pharmacist willingness to deliver colorectal cancer screening

Background: Accessibility, expanding scope of practice, and a rapidly changing policy landscape make US community pharmacies a promising delivery setting for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. It is not clear, however, whether community pharmacists are willing to incorporate CRC screening into their pharmacy practice, what potential drivers of willingness are, and, if unwilling, under what conditions pharmacists would be willing to provide PharmFIT™. Methods: From September 2022 to January 2023, we surveyed 578 currently practicing community pharmacists. We assessed willingness to provide a pharmacy-based CRC screening program (PharmFIT™). We used multiple linear regression to identify correlates of perceived implementation complexity and multiple logistic regression to explore overall willingness to implement PharmFIT™ Results: Most pharmacists (80%) were willing to implement PharmFIT™. The most common reasons for unwillingness were that results needed to be reported to the patients’ PCPs (52%), that appropriate training in delivering CRC screening be provided (48%) and that care coordination with PCPs be clear (46%). Perceived complexity of the intervention decreased as years in practice increased (β= 0.013; CI95%: 0.01-0.02) and as level of knowledge about CRC screening increased (β= 0.085; CI95%: 0.01-0.16). Respondents’ willingness to implement PharmFIT™ increased as perceived complexity decreased (OR:5.68, CI95%: 3.96-8.15). Conclusions: Most community pharmacists in the US would be willing to integrate PharmFIT™ into their current workflows. Training in how to deliver FIT and preparation for the coordination of test results and follow up care should be completed prior to implementing PharmFIT™. Impact: Community pharmacies are a viable venue for delivering CRC screening.