abstract: 'Background: Funding is a significant barrier to employing general

  practice pharmacists. Objective(s): To explore the feasibility of

  determining the cost-benefit of pharmacists in Australian general

  practice.

  Methods: Two part-time pharmacists were employed by general practices in

  Canberra, Australia. Diaries of the pharmacists were analysed to

  determine time worked and participation in income-generating activities,

  including Government-funded programs: Asthma Cycle of Care, Home

  Medicine Reviews, and Health Care Assessments. Scenarios using different

  practice and business models were entered into value-cost models to

  determine the income generated by the pharmacists relative to their

  salary.

  Results: Over 19 weeks, pharmacists A and B supported 47 and 23 Asthma

  Cycle of Care activities, generating income to the general practice of

  AU\$4,700 and AU\$2,300, respectively. The pharmacists spent 36.4 and

  24.1 hours on activities usually conducted by general practitioners

  (GPs), allowing additional time for GP-patient consultations. Value-cost

  models determined AU\$0.61 - AU\$1.20 income generation by pharmacists

  per AU\$1 salary.

  Conclusions: It was feasible to determine the value-cost ratios of

  employing pharmacists in general practice using these methods. Future

  work should focus on developing a robust business model that includes

  health care system savings resulting from practice pharmacist

  interventions, determined from randomised controlled trials.'
affiliation: 'Kosari, S (Corresponding Author), Univ Canberra, Fac Hlth, Discipline
  Pharm, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia.

  Kosari, Sam; Deeks, Louise S.; Naunton, Mark; Tay, Guan Han; Peterson, Gregory M.,
  Univ Canberra, Fac Hlth, Discipline Pharm, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia.

  Dawda, Paresh, Univ Canberra, Hlth Res Inst, Ctr Res \& Act Publ Hlth, Canberra,
  ACT 2617, Australia.

  Postma, Marteen J., Univ Groningen, Univ Med Ctr, Dept Hlth Sci, Pharm, Groningen,
  Netherlands.

  Peterson, Gregory M., Univ Tasmania, Fac Hlth, Hobart, Tas 7001, Australia.'
author: Kosari, Sam and Deeks, Louise S. and Naunton, Mark and Dawda, Paresh and Postma,
  Marteen J. and Tay, Guan Han and Peterson, Gregory M.
author-email: sam.kosari@canberra.edu.au
author_list:
- family: Kosari
  given: Sam
- family: Deeks
  given: Louise S.
- family: Naunton
  given: Mark
- family: Dawda
  given: Paresh
- family: Postma
  given: Marteen J.
- family: Tay
  given: Guan Han
- family: Peterson
  given: Gregory M.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.07.030
earlyaccessdate: MAR 2021
eissn: 1934-8150
files: []
issn: 1551-7411
journal: RESEARCH IN SOCIAL \& ADMINISTRATIVE PHARMACY
keywords: 'Pharmacists; General practice; General practitioners; Primary care;

  Economics'
language: English
month: MAY
number: '5'
number-of-cited-references: '29'
orcid-numbers: Postma, Maarten/0000-0002-6306-3653
pages: 1012-1016
papis_id: 8118f4a811d4ca3f83c73f7ef517ae95
ref: Kosari2021fundingpharmacists
times-cited: '3'
title: 'Funding pharmacists in general practice: A feasibility study to inform the
  design of future economic evaluations'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000633997800022
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '1'
volume: '17'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health; Pharmacology
  \& Pharmacy
year: '2021'