Integration of non-dispensing pharmacists into primary healthcare services: An umbrella review and narrative synthesis of the effect on patient outcomes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Australian primary care services must address increasingly complex and chronic disease. When integrated into general practice, non-dispensing pharmacists (NDPs) provide clinical services within a team-based model of care to improve patient outcomes and quality use of medications. This review synthesises available systematic reviews and meta-analyses to assess the effect of the integration of NDPs on outcomes of primary care patients.

METHOD:

PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and JBI Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from August 2019 until December 2019 for systematic reviews and meta-analyses that assessed the integration of NDPs into primary care, as well as patient outcomes.

RESULTS:

In total, 591 publications were identified, of which five were suitable for inclusion. Outcomes in the included studies were classified into changes in biomedical markers, changes in prescribing practices and patient-reported outcomes.

DISCUSSION:

The results of this review suggest that the integration of NDPs has a positive effect on patient outcomes in primary care.