Pharmacy patient perceptions of pharmacy technicians as immunizers.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to gather pharmacy patient perceptions about receiving immunizations from pharmacy technicians. Specifically, researchers sought to understand if pharmacy patients were comfortable with being immunized by a pharmacy technician, and also if knowing the technician personally, knowing that the technician was trained to immunize, the waiting time, or the patient age were factors that changed the patient comfort level. METHODS: Qualitative, semi-structured, key informant interviews were conducted using a 12-item interview script. Participants were walk-in patients from 3 chain community pharmacies in a state in which technicians have not started to administer immunizations, but in which the practice is not prohibited. RESULTS: A total of 46 pharmacy patients were interviewed and the following 4 themes emerged from the resulting transcripts pharmacy patients support immunization by pharmacy technicians to increase the accessibility and decrease the waiting time, even for pediatric patients; patients value positive, trusting relationships with the pharmacy team, and knowing technicians had proper immunization technique training added to the patients' feelings of comfort; participants believed that allowing technicians to immunize would broaden the technician's responsibilities and balance the workload among the pharmacy team; and some patients still choose not to be vaccinated at a pharmacy. CONCLUSION: This study sought to gather pharmacy patient perspectives about receiving immunizations from pharmacy technicians. The results showed that pharmacy patients support the additional role of pharmacy technicians as immunizers in general. Participants also provided information that can be applied by pharmacy leaders as more technicians begin to administer immunizations.