Delivery of Enhanced Asthma Care in Pharmacies: Perceptions and Experiences of Australian Service Providers.

Background: Evidence-based asthma management services have been tested in Australian community pharmacies for over two decades and have been well received by patients but are not retained in practice. The positive clinical outcomes of these tested services suggest the potential for wider implementation, for which the providers' perspective is critical.

Objective: This investigation evaluates the implementability of the Pharmacy Asthma Service (PAS) through the experiences and perceptions of the community pharmacists delivering the service.

Healthcare expenditure and its socio-demographic and clinical predictors in Australians with poorly controlled asthma.

Introduction: Asthma has substantial and increasing health and economic burden worldwide. This study aimed to estimate healthcare expenditure and determine the factors that increase expenditure in Australians with poorly controlled asthma.

Methods: Individuals ≥18 years of age with poorly controlled asthma, as determined by a score ≥1.

Patient uptake and outcomes following pharmacist-initiated referrals to general practitioners for asthma review.

Uptake and outcomes of pharmacist-initiated general practitioner (GP) referrals for patients with poorly controlled asthma were investigated. Pharmacists referred at-risk patients for GP assessment. Patients were categorized as action takers (consulted their GP on pharmacist's advice) or action avoiders (did not action the referral).

Integrating Pharmacy and Registry Data Strengthens Clinical Assessments of Patient Adherence.

Accurate clinical assessment of patient adherence using reliable and valid measures is essential in establishing the presence of adherence issues and support practices for pharmacists. This investigation aims to conduct a novel assessment of patient adherence to asthma controller therapy by combining 1) patient-specific dosage data found in pharmacy dispensing data with 2) centrally collected administrative claims records, to determine the added value of using both sources of data. A total of 381 clinically uncontrolled asthma patients, from 95 community pharmacies across three Australian States were recruited and provided consent for the retrieval of their claims records and pharmacy dispensing data.

Rethinking the gold standard - The feasibility of randomized controlled trials within health services effectiveness research.

Background: An evidence-based randomized controlled trial for a novel Pharmacy Asthma Service was tested in 3 Australian states. Positive asthma outcomes were achieved after the 12-month intervention, albeit in both the intervention and comparator arms. The current investigation uses a mixed methods approach to 1) qualitatively explore how comparator arm pharmacists implemented the trial protocol and 2) quantitatively examine how this may have impacted patient outcomes in this trial.