Development of a patient-based practice model in community pharmacy practice: Academic-practice interface

The purpose of this paper is to describe shared faculty arrangements betwee n a large chain pharmacy corporation and two schools of pharmacy. The two f aculty members involved worked jointly on programs intended to improve the level of drug therapy-related services provided in the participating pharma cies, develop high quality experiential education sites for students, and e nhance the morale and capabilities of staff pharmacists. The paper is built around two conceptual frameworks. One is a model of interorganizational re lations used to organize the complexity of the relationships among the thre e organizational entities involved in this project. The other is a function al model of patient-based pharmacy practice that evolved along with the pro ject and its intended and unintended turns. The paper concludes with a summ ary of lessons learned that may be of use to others involved in similar pro jects. These include the view that upgrading of community pharmacy services must begin with enhancing the skill levels of present staff. Also, patienc e is required after alterations to practice are made. One of the most impor tant recommendations of this paper is that a coordinating committee made up of representatives from all involved organizations be formed prior to the start of the project and meet on a periodic basis throughout the project to iron out differences, anticipate problems, and generally enhance the produ ctivity of the relationships. Such a body was used in the project described here and proved successful.