Barriers to pharmaceutical care in Argentina.

Objective: To identify the perceived barriers to implementing pharmaceutical care in Argentina.

Method: A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to carry out a cross-sectional descriptive study. The questionnaires were distributed in different continuing professional development events for pharmacists during November-December 2005.

Results: Ninety completed questionnaires were collected with the following distribution: 16.7% at the national congress of hospital pharmacy, 18.9% after a conference, 64.4% during two courses related to pharmaceutical care. The surveyed pharmacists work for community pharmacies (76.7%), hospital/institutional pharmacies (20.0%) and primary care centers (2.2%). The most important barriers mentioned were lack of time, lack of specific training and lack of communication skills.

Conclusion: The opinions of Argentinian pharmacists from different places and professional practice settings were obtained. In all work settings, "lack of time" is the main barrier to overcome for implementing pharmaceutical care.