The role of pharmacy in healthcare continues to evolve as pharmacists gain increased clinical\nresponsibilities in the United States, such as the opportunity to prescribe hormonal contraception.\nCurrently, North Carolina (NC) pharmacists do not have this ability. While previous research\nfocused on the perceptions of community pharmacists surrounding this practice, no previous research\nsurveyed all pharmacists in a state. This cross-sectional, web-based survey was distributed to all\nactively licensed pharmacists residing in the state of NC in November 2018. The primary objective\nwas to determine the likelihood of NC community pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception.\nSecondary outcomes included: evaluation of all respondent support and perceptions of this practice\nas advocacy occurs on the state organization level and unified support is critical; opinions regarding\nover-the-counter (OTC) status of contraception; and potential barriers to prescribing. Overall, 83% of\ncommunity pharmacists were likely to prescribe hormonal contraception. No differences in likelihood\nto prescribe were detected between geographic settings. Community pharmacists reported that the\nmost common barriers to impact prescribing were added responsibility and liability (69.8%) and\ntime constraints (67.2%). Fewer than 10% of respondents felt that hormonal contraception should be\nclassified as OTC (7.9%). Noncommunity pharmacists were significantly more likely to agree that\nprescribing hormonal contraception allows pharmacists to practice at a higher level, that increased\naccess to hormonal contraception is an important public health issue, and that rural areas would\nbenefit from pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraception. Overall, this study found a willingness\nto prescribe and support from the majority of both community and noncommunity pharmacists.\nLimitations of the study included a low response rate and potential nonresponse bias. Future research\nis needed to address solutions to potential barriers and uptake of this practice, if implemented.
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