Identification of critical factors for forming collaborative relationships between physicians and pharmacists

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe strategies that have successfully achieved collaboration among physicians and pharmacists providing comprehensive medication management (CMM) to support development of CMM services. Methods: A 2-phase, mixed-methods approach was employed to identify successful strategies for building pharmacist-physician relationships in primary care clinic settings. Phase I used a qualitative approach to identify strategies deemed successful in building relationships with physicians. An advisory group of pharmacists with experience building CMM practices assisted in the development of minimum criteria characterizing pharmacists as having strong collaborative relationships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 interviewees meeting established criteria. Researchers coded interview transcripts and identified the resulting strategies. Phase II employed a survey instrument to determine how frequently identified strategies are used and evaluate the relative level of perceived impact of each strategy, which was distributed to a national audience of pharmacists practicing in ambulatory care settings. Responses from pharmacists meeting prespecified criteria were included in the analysis. Results: Thirty-three strategies were identified and grouped into 8 themes. In phase II, 104 survey respondents met defined criteria and were eligible to endorse use of identified strategies and rate their relative influence. Conclusions: Thirty-three strategies were identified and grouped into 8 themes to aid pharmacists practicing CMM in developing stronger collaborative relationships with physician colleagues. A national sampling found many of these strategies were employed by a majority of pharmacists, who had found them to be influential in creating collaborative relationships.