A Survey of Primary Care Administrators’ Experiences During Integration of Pharmacists Into Team-Based Primary Care in British Columbia

Team-based primary care involving a pharmacist provides many benefits, including improved patient outcomes, increased efficiency, and enhanced patient and clinician satisfaction. This article reports findings from a provincial survey to describe primary care network administrators’ experiences during integration of pharmacists into interprofessional team in primary care networks, and to describe the facilitators and barriers of team-based care. Health service administrators reported an overall high degree of satisfaction with their experiences collaborating with the program team and with pharmacists in a developing team-based primary care model. Barriers to team-based care included lack of integrated electronic medical record preventing efficient access and sharing of patient information/communication, lack of role clarity and scope of practice among team members, and lack of co-location precluding relationship building, timely care, and optimization of the team. These barriers should be addressed to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the team as the model of primary care continues to evolve.