SynthesisPloS one2021
General practice pharmacists in Australia: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mapping Evidence and Constructing an Analytic Framework: An Umbrella Review Summarizing Primary Care Family Physicians' Experiences With Clinical Integration.Annals of family medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Scope, content and quality of clinical pharmacy practice guidelines: a systematic review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2024Pooled it
- The effectiveness and cost of integrating pharmacists within general practice to optimize prescribing and health outcomes in primary care patients with polypharmacy: a systematic review.BMC primary care · 2023Pooled it
- 'You get a different mindset' - primary care physicians' perceptions of interprofessional medication reviews for patients living independently.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Developing pharmacist practice through a pilot family practice preceptorship programme: a prospective quantitative pre-post evaluation.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2026Article
- Interprofessional team members' experiences collaborating with pharmacists in team-based primary care in British Columbia, Canada: a qualitative evaluation.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2026Article
- A Survey of Primary Care Administrators' Experiences During Integration of Pharmacists into Team-Based Primary Care in British Columbia.Healthcare management forum · 2026Article
- A provincial survey of patient experiences while receiving care from pharmacists in team-based primary care in British Columbia, Canada.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2025Article
- Article
- Interdisciplinary medication reviews of psychiatric patients - A mixed method evaluation.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Developing Integrated Extended Pharmacist Roles and Services for Equitable Access and Outcomes in Primary Healthcare: A Realist Evaluation.International journal of health policy and management · 2025Article
- Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of primary healthcare practitioners regarding pharmacist clinics: a cross-sectional study in Shanghai.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Integration and impact of pharmacists in general practice internationally: A rapid review.Journal of health services research & policy · 2024Review
- Proton Pump Inhibitors: Rational Use and Use-Reduction - The Windsor Workshop.Digestive diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Evaluating the potential outcomes of pharmacist-led activities in the Australian general practice setting: a prospective observational study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Observational
- Sick day management in people with chronic kidney disease: a scoping review.Journal of nephrology · 2023Article
- Feasibility of a collaborative pharmacist prescribing model for patients with chronic disease(s) attending Australian general practices: a preliminary study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Article
- Interprofessional collaboration within general practice teams following the inclusion of non-dispensing pharmacists.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- Integration of pharmacist independent prescribers into general practice: a mixed-methods study of pharmacists' and patients' views.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe inclusion of pharmacists into general practices in Australia has expanded in recent years. This systematic review aimed to synthesise the literature of qualitative and quantitative studies, and identify the knowledge gaps, related to pharmacists working in general practice in Australia.
methodsThis systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed, EBSCOhost, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched from the inception of databases to January 2021. The search was focused on studies investigating general practice pharmacists in Australia. The quality of each study was appraised using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool criteria. The narrative synthesis approach was utilised to describe data due to the heterogeneity among study designs and measures.
resultsTwenty-five studies were included in this review. General practice pharmacists engaged in various non-dispensing patient care services, with medication management reviews being the primary activity reported. General practice pharmacists' characteristics and an environment with a willingness of collaboration were the notable influencing factors for successfully including pharmacists in general practices. Factors that posed a challenge to the adoption of general practice pharmacists were lack of funding and other resources, poorly defined roles, and absence of mentoring/training.
conclusionThis review has summarised the characteristics, activities, benefits, barriers, and facilitators of including pharmacists in general practices in Australia. General practice pharmacists are well accepted by stakeholders, and they can engage in a range of patient-centred activities to benefit patients. There is a need for more robust research to explore the patient and economic outcomes related to clinical activities that a pharmacist can perform in general practice, as a foundation to developing an appropriate and sustainable funding model. The findings of this review will be beneficial for pharmacists, researchers, policymakers, and readers who wish to implement the role of general practice pharmacists in the future.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.