Development of a pharmacist-provided contraceptive service following passage of Oregon House Bill 2879

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the development and implementation of a pharmacist-provided contraceptive service in a community pharmacy to increase access to hormonal contraceptives and improve quality measure performance following passage of Oregon House Bill 2879.

Setting: Community pharmacy embedded within a federally qualified health center (FQHC).

Practice description: Not applicable.

Practice innovation: Women 18 to 50 years of age without evidence of an effective contraceptive method in the electronic medical record were administratively identified. Women were then contacted by pharmacy staff and educated about the opportunity to receive hormonal contraceptives directly from the pharmacy. Women were seen for contraceptive services through scheduled and walk-in appointments.

Evaluation: Not applicable.

Results: From November 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, 23 women were seen for contraceptive services through the community pharmacy. They averaged 27.2 ± 8.6 years of age and all were Hispanic. The pharmacist prescribed hormonal contraceptives to 78.3% of the women (n = 17). Six women were referred to their primary care provider because pregnancy could not be ruled out (n = 5) or the patient requested a method not within the pharmacists' prescriptive authority (n = 1). No patients were referred to their primary care provider for elevated blood pressure readings, contraindicated disease states, or drug interactions.

Conclusion: A pharmacist-provided contraceptive service was successfully implemented at a community pharmacy within an FQHC. This service was mostly used by young Hispanic women with unmet contraceptive needs. The expanded access to hormonal contraceptives provided by this service may help the health center to achieve quality measures related to contraceptive use and decrease unintended pregnancies in the future.