Seeking consumer insight into community pharmacy
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23 May 2012
Media release
Seeking consumer insight into community pharmacy
A new research project funded by the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement will look at consumer needs, experiences and expectations of community pharmacy.
The Agreement’s Research and Development Program has awarded the research project to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The project objectives are to: develop and implement an appropriate methodology to inform policyrelated decisions on a population health basis to identify needs, experiences and expectations of community pharmacy services. It will also develop and validate a tool to measure consumer health
impact and outcomes in community pharmacy.
A key focus for Australia’s current health care reform is to create stronger primary health care through better integration and coordination of multi-disciplinary care for consumers.
Community pharmacies will play a unique and key role in this model. They are often the first point of contact between consumers and the health care system. Understanding consumer experiences with community pharmacies — their needs, expectations, preferences — will be crucial for evaluating the overall national provision of pharmacy services.
Guild National President Kos Sclavos said: “PwC has a proven track record as partners in delivering successful projects, such as this. We hope this robust research project will deliver practical and meaningful outcomes that can be used by the Guild, community pharmacies and policymakers to help
achieve improved services and health outcomes for the Australian public.
“This work reflects a key objective of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement, which is to achieve positive health outcomes through the efficient delivery of patient-focussed professional services and programs,” Mr Sclavos said.
The approach proposed by PwC builds on a previous Third Agreement R&D project, which covered similar areas. Using findings from the previous project, the current project will demonstrate the differences between consumer preference, expectations and needs – lifting the capacity of community
pharmacy to deliver services effectively.
This project commenced in May 2012 and will run for approximately 26 months.
For further media enquiries, contact Greg Turnbull on 02 6270 1888.