Primary care team member's perceptions of credentialed and privileged clinic pharmacists and impact on clinic workload in a pediatric primary care network

Background: Pharmacists provide increased access to care, vaccinations, and medication management for patients. Credentialing and privileging of pharmacists allow pharmacists to practice at the top of their licenses and elevate pharmacy practice. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to assess the perception of health care team members of credentialed and privileged pharmacists working in a pediatric primary care network (PCN) before and after implementation of pharmacist privileges. The secondary objective was to determine team members' perceptions on the amount of time spent refilling medications, resolving medication access issues, and ordering vaccines before and after implementation of pharmacist privileges. Methods: This was a prospective pre-post study using surveys to capture health care team members' perceptions of credentialed and privileged ambulatory care pharmacists. Surveyed participants included attending physicians, advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, and patient care assistants. Summary statistics are reported as frequencies and percentages. Statistical analysis was conducted using SAS version 9.4. Results: Fifty-eight preprivileging and 56 postprivileging surveys were distributed. The return rate was 79.3% (n = 46) for preprivileging and 80.4% (n = 45) for postprivileging surveys. More than 90% of respondents had a favorable perception of credentialed and privileged pharmacists in the clinic. There was a significant difference in the perception of the amount of time spent on medication access issues after pharmacist privileges were implemented (P = 0.0296). Conclusion: Credentialed and privileged pharmacists in a pediatric PCN are viewed favorably by clinic team members and can have a positive impact on clinic workload.