Facilitating integration of regulated pharmacy technicians into community pharmacy practice in Ontario: Results of an exploratory study

Background: The integration of regulated pharmacy technicians (RPTs) into community pharmacy practice was intended to relieve pharmacists of certain technical duties to facilitate greater provision of direct patient care services, commensurate with expanded scope of practice. There is scant data available regarding the success, value and impact of RPT integration, either in Canada or in other jurisdictions. Methods: Pharmacists and RPTs working in community practices were interviewed. Qualitative data were categorized using an iterative coding process to identify themes related to barriers and facilitators to integrating and optimizing the role of the RPT in community practice in Ontario. Results: A total of 16 RPTs and 12 pharmacists were interviewed from community sites in Ontario. Strategies for facilitating successful integration of RPTs into daily workflow were identified, based on 4 major themes: environmental factors, interpersonal factors, professional identity formation and innovative use of delegation. Interpretation: Integration of RPTs into community practice is complex and requires careful management, planning, training and follow-up to ensure attainment of objectives. Simply hiring RPTs and placing them into existing workflow patterns is generally not a successful implementation strategy. Conclusions: Implementation strategies identified through this study can provide employers, managers, pharmacists and RPTs with opportunities to enhance RPT integration and optimize the role of both pharmacists and RPTs in community practice.