Examining medication safety challenges and innovative solutions in neighborhood pharmacies
Imagine walking into your local pharmacy to pick up a prescription. You're handed a correctly filled medication, but for someone else—a error that could have serious consequences.
This wrong-patient error is just one of many safety challenges plaguing community pharmacies today 1 . According to the World Health Organization, approximately one in every 30 patients experiences some type of medication-related harm in healthcare settings 2 .
This article explores whether community pharmacy is keeping pace with the broader patient safety movement and what innovations might bridge existing gaps.
Community pharmacists have dramatically expanded their roles beyond traditional medication dispensing.
For chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension
Greatly expanded during COVID-19 pandemic
For various health conditions and screenings
The 2022 National Pharmacist Workforce Study revealed that 91% of chain pharmacists reported "high" or "excessively high" workload levels, creating environments where errors are more likely to occur 3 .
A qualitative study of Texas community pharmacists identified poor communication with primary care providers as a significant barrier 5 .
Approximately 60% of all medication errors occur during care transitions, frequently due to communication breakdowns between healthcare providers 5 .
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has developed 2025-2026 Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Community Pharmacy to address persistent safety issues.
Implementing processes to obtain and use patient weights to verify appropriate dosing
Maximizing technology to prevent errors when unused prescriptions are returned to inventory
Establishing standard processes to prevent errors during vaccine preparation and administration 1
"Pharmacies really need to start looking at what type of things may not be working... The ways to assess these types of issues are many folds. I would say the best thing, first off, is being proactive. We don't want to wait for an error to happen then react to it."
A 2025 cross-sectional study surveyed pharmacists across Florida to examine how workplace stress impacts patient care. The research team:
The study revealed compelling evidence linking pharmacist stress to patient safety concerns:
| Factor | Chain Pharmacists | Independent Pharmacists | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Perceived Stress Score | 22.72 | 22.82 | 0.0034 |
| Reported inadequate staffing | 73.8% | 24.1% | <0.0001 |
| Able to provide quality care | 26.2% | 75.9% | <0.0001 |
| Correlation | Spearman's Ï | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PSS scores vs. difficulty providing quality care | -0.47 | <0.0001 |
| PSS scores vs. perception of unsafe conditions | -0.51 | <0.0001 |
| Perception of unsafe conditions vs. difficulty providing care | 0.71 | <0.0001 |
Emerging technologies offer promising approaches to enhance safety in community pharmacies:
For dispensing accuracy and efficiency
For medication inventory management
To verify medications throughout the dispensing process
| Technology | Safety Application | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode Scanning | Medication verification during dispensing and return-to-stock | Reduces wrong-drug errors by up to 50% |
| Electronic Health Record Integration | Access to patient records, allergies, and laboratory values | Identifies contraindications and dosing issues |
| Clinical Decision Support | Automated alerts for interactions, allergies, dosing | Provides safety net for pharmacological issues |
| Solution | Function | Example Implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode Scanning Systems | Verifies medication identity throughout dispensing process | Implementing scanning during return-to-stock processes |
| Integrated EHR Access | Provides complete patient information | Secure portals connecting pharmacies with health systems |
| Private Counseling Areas | Enables confidential patient consultations | Designated areas for medication therapy management |
| Standardized Workflows | Reduces variability in high-risk processes | ISMP's standardized return-to-stock protocols |
| Staffing Optimization Tools | Ensures adequate personnel for patient volume | Algorithms adjusting staffing based on prescription volume |
Community pharmacy stands at a crossroads in the patient safety movement. While significant challenges exist—including systemic understaffing, technology gaps, and communication barriers—promising solutions are emerging.
The evidence clearly shows that investing in pharmacist well-being is directly tied to patient safety outcomes 3 4 .
Address staffing and workload issues to create sustainable practice environments
Connect pharmacies with the broader healthcare system through interoperable systems
Recognize pharmacists as healthcare providers and appropriately compensate cognitive services
Prioritize safety over speed and volume in pharmacy practice
The question isn't whether community pharmacy is permanently falling behind in the patient safety movement, but rather how quickly it can adopt the systemic changes needed to protect both patients and pharmacists.
The journey toward safer community pharmacy practice will require commitment from healthcare organizations, policymakers, and the public. But the reward—reducing the estimated 51 million dispensing errors that occur annually in the U.S.—makes this mission essential for everyone who picks up a prescription at their local pharmacy 5 .
References to be added here