Q&A: Community Pharmacists Well-Positioned to Provide Injectable Contraception
Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, clinical associate professor at University at Buffalo, discusses how pharmacists and patients view injectable contraception.
In the United States, between 17% and 53% of patients currently live in a contraception desert, where access to contraception is limited. Pharmacists, as the most accessible members of the health care team, are well positioned to help fill this gap in care. In a recent review published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, investigators found that pharmacist-administered injectable contraception can be beneficial, accessible, and convenient for patients.1
Q&A: Community Pharmacists Well-Positioned to Provide Injectable Contraception / adragan - stock.adobe.com
Drug Topics® recently sat down with Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, clinical associate professor at University at Buffalo and an author on the study, to discuss why community pharmacists are well-positioned to provide injectable contraception, as well as how pharmacists and patients view the service.
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Drug Topics: Why are community pharmacists well-positioned to provide injectable contraception?
Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP: I just want to start off with thanking my research team, Tim Hutcherson and his three PharmD candidates, Nick Steele, John Rizk and Elizabeth Bradley. They really conducted the majority of the systematic review research related to this topic. This is certainly a passion of mine, and I think it's really important.
Community pharmacists, given their background in administering vaccinations in the community pharmacy setting, they have extensive intramuscular, subcutaneous injection experience. Their current scope of practice and ability to administer vaccinations means that contraceptive injections and injection techniques training is training they already have. It’s already provided in training courses for immunization delivery. In addition to that, pharmacists as medication experts can provide detailed, structured counseling on adverse effects for medications and provide patients with information about managing side effects, missed doses, and counseling on the administration. Pharmacists are really well positioned in community pharmacies to provide that information and already have the training to administer the vaccinations.
The other piece to this is that pharmacists have the opportunity to really address a large gap in contraceptive access. Over 19 million females of reproductive age in the US reside in a contraceptive desert, which means that they're unable to access easily a health clinic that offers the full range of contraceptive methods. Due to these limited number of clinics that cover large geographic areas, this increases the demand for contraceptive services from patients. At these existing clinics, patients might also experience extensive wait times, and this disproportionately also affects rural communities, as they have less access to contraception compared to those patients living in an urban area. Overall, this evidence suggests that geographic location can significantly impact access to essential medication services such as contraception, and really opens the door for pharmacists that already have the adequate training to administer this and the training to counsel on this to ensure that patients have access to a broader range of contraceptive services.
Drug Topics: How do pharmacists and patients view pharmacists administered injectable contraception?
Cieri-Hutcherson: There's a couple different pieces to the viewpoints of injectable contraceptives. From the pharmacist perspective, most pharmacists that already offer this service believe that this is an opportunity to expand access to contraceptive products, as well as an opportunity for additional revenue and would be a benefit to patients. Patients also find that this creates more connections with clinic staff, creates positive interactions and expands access to injectable contraception. Pharmacists also feel pretty comfortable and knowledgeable about administering injectable contraception and providing the education that goes along with that. Pharmacists that might more infrequently administer injectables, injectable contraception, or injections in general, might feel a little bit less comfortable administering, but this is something that a small amount of training and experience could overcome.
From the perspective of the patient, the ability to receive injectable contraception at the community pharmacy is usually viewed as a valued option. It provides more flexibility and convenience. It's easier to access, especially in those geographic locations that I mentioned earlier, and it leads some patients to report that the injectable contraceptive method is their chosen method of contraception now, compared to other contraceptives that would be available at the pharmacy level. This varies from state to state, and some patients might only have access to daily administered or weekly administered types of contraceptive forms, like oral tablets or the patch or the vaginal ring at the pharmacy setting. This provides a long acting, injectable contraception and patients are usually satisfied if the service is implemented in their pharmacy.
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