Changing Pharmacy Practice: The Leadership Challenge

Abstract

Pharmacists can provide high-quality accessible care that improves patient outcomes, however these beneficial services are not widely available to patients. The profession faces a challenge with respect to contributing to patient care and changing practice. In this paper, we have drawn from the change management and leadership disciplines, and our own experiences in the Centre for COMmunity Pharmacy Research and Interdisciplinary Strategies (COMPRIS), to understand the complexity of achieving the vision of engaging pharmacists in patient-oriented health care. We outline 8 critical steps, offered by John Kotter, a leading expert in organizational change, in achieving wide-scale practice change. The work required to achieve the vision of pharmacists working in patient-oriented health care represents a transformational change in the evolution of the profession. It is important to understand that the change process takes time and effort. Leadership towards practice change takes place on many levels, from individuals to organizations. Patient-oriented health care means keeping the patient at the centre of these changes. While it is tempting to frame all of these changes in terms of pharmacists and pharmacy practice, it's not about us, it's about the patients and what we can do for them.