UCSF

Background

In the United States, more than 19 million people of reproductive age need access to publicly funded hormonal contraception or live in areas where it is not readily available. These include rural areas of the country, commonly known as contraception deserts. Pharmacist prescribing has been proposed to increase access, but little is known about its implementation in such areas.

Objective

This study quantified the extent of pharmacists' furnishing (prescribing) of hormonal contraception in California's Central Valley community pharmacies and identified barriers and facilitators to implementation.

Methods

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional, mixed methods, observational study by (1) contacting all community pharmacies in the 11 counties of the Central Valley to determine furnishing rates and (2) surveying and interviewing pharmacies that indicated they furnished hormonal contraception.

Results

Overall, 13% of pharmacies within the Central Valley reported that they furnished hormonal contraception. Pharmacists reported that barriers to furnishing included costs to patients and the pharmacy, lack of time and staff, lack of training and certifications, limited patient awareness of pharmacists' ability to furnish, pharmacists' limited confidence in furnishing, and patient use of emergency contraception as an alternative to hormonal contraception. Pharmacists reported that patients often sought hormonal contraception from pharmacists owing to ease of accessibility to a pharmacist; some other facilitators included advertising, confidentiality, low cost to patients, and referrals from other providers.

Conclusions

Common barriers were identified across pharmacies that furnished hormonal contraception, indicating the need for strategies that reduce these barriers to help expand patient's access to these services and to increase pharmacists' ability and confidence to prescribe.