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Table 1 Focus Group and Interview Guide Questions

From: Expanding the role of clinical pharmacists on interdisciplinary primary care teams for chronic pain and opioid management

Wave One Focus group questions

Who in your opinion is the most appropriate person to screen for pain and why?

Who in your opinion is the most appropriate person to assess pain and why?

Other than the finding that the patient has pain, what information about a patient’s pain is most useful to you in:

  a) preparing to assess pain

  b) actually assessing pain

  c) guiding your treatment/management plan for pain

What are the roles of different staff members [PCP, RN, LVN, Clerk, Mental health, Pharmacist etc...] in getting pain information? Assessing pain? Managing pain?

Wave Two Semi-structured interview probes relating to pharmacist role expansion

How are pharmacists involved in primary care chronic pain management currently?

How could their role expand?

What are the barriers to role expansion?

Would they need additional training or licenses?

How does the pharmacist interact with the rest of the team about pain?

For what types of conditions and concerns are they involved?

What is the role of the academic detailer relating to pain medications?

Do you have any thoughts about how we could improve pharmacist directed pain management of ‘at risk’ Veterans?

What do you think about pharmacists taking on responsibility for monitoring and providing medications to such Veterans?

Do you anticipate any challenges for pharmacists taking on that role?

Are there others on the team who would be better equipped to take it on? Who (Nurses, Social workers, etc.)?