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Background: Concerns have been raised that pharmacists sometimes act as barriers to patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) accessing buprenorphine treatment. The present research explores how community pharmacists' endorsement (vs non-endorsement) of stigmatizing beliefs about patients taking buprenorphine relate to intentions, comfort, and decisions regarding dispensing buprenorphine for OUD. In addition, we assessed attitudes toward risk in pharmacy practice as a novel correlate of dispensing intentions and decisions., Methods: A sample of 207 active community-based pharmacists practicing in the United States responded to survey items measuring stigma, risk tolerance, and intentions to dispense buprenorphine. The survey included 2 vignettes in which patients presented to the pharmacy with a prescription for buprenorphine, and respondents rated their comfort with dispensing and decisions regarding dispensing in the vignette., Results: Results suggest that both stigma toward patients taking buprenorphine to treat OUD and tolerance for risk in pharmacy settings are related to differences in pharmacists' intentions to and willingness to dispense buprenorphine for OUD., Conclusions: Findings support the need for interventions to reduce stigma associated with buprenorphine use among pharmacists and suggest that risk tolerance is an important determinant of pharmacists' behavior that merits further study., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Increasing buprenorphine prescribing for opioid use disorder (OUD) has been a major focus of U.S. opioid response efforts. However, concerns related to dispensing buprenorphine have been identified among pharmacists., Objectives: This study aimed to describe perceptions, policies, and practices reported by community-based pharmacists in relation to dispensing buprenorphine for OUD and to compare these responses by practice setting., Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was administered to a random sample of 6376 pharmacists. Responses were collected anonymously from October 16, 2021, to November 7, 2021., Results: A response rate of 5.1% was achieved with 325 responders, and 281 were eligible to complete the survey. Most reported practicing in a chain (50.9%) or independent pharmacy (34.7%) as a staff pharmacist (39.7%) or pharmacist-in-charge (37.0%). Most (68.1%) indicated they could usually or always fill a buprenorphine prescription promptly. The most common pharmacy policies related to buprenorphine dispensing were checking the prescription drug monitoring program (71.3%), validating the prescriber's X-waiver (44.9%), accepting only local prescribers (37.4%), and prohibiting refills more than one day early (35.8%). Policies limiting buprenorphine access to local prescribers, local patients, and established patients varied by practice setting and were most common in independent pharmacies. The strongest barriers to buprenorphine dispensing were insurance prior authorization, difficulty reaching prescribers with questions, and concerns about buprenorphine diversion. The strongest facilitators of buprenorphine dispensing were increased communication with prescribers, increased trust with prescribers, increased trust with patients, and increased education for pharmacists., Conclusion: Most respondents indicated they were willing and able to dispense buprenorphine products for OUD promptly. However, they also reported discomfort dispensing when factors representing potential risk of diversion are present. Mitigating this hypersensitivity to diversion risk among pharmacists should be a focus of regulatory agencies and professional organizations. Efforts to address the unique concerns of independent pharmacists will also be essential to improve access., (Copyright © 2022 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Increasing buprenorphine prescribing for opioid use disorder (OUD) has been a major focus of U.S. opioid response efforts. However, concerns related to dispensing buprenorphine have been identified among pharmacists. Objectives: This study aimed to describe perceptions, policies, and practices reported by community-based pharmacists in relation to dispensing buprenorphine for OUD and to compare these responses by practice setting. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was administered to a random sample of 6376 pharmacists. Responses were collected anonymously from October 16, 2021, to November 7, 2021. Results: A response rate of 5.1% was achieved with 325 responders, and 281 were eligible to complete the survey. Most reported practicing in a chain (50.9%) or independent pharmacy (34.7%) as a staff pharmacist (39.7%) or pharmacist-in-charge (37.0%). Most (68.1%) indicated they could usually or always fill a buprenorphine prescription promptly. The most common pharmacy policies related to buprenorphine dispensing were checking the prescription drug monitoring program (71.3%), validating the prescriber’s X-waiver (44.9%), accepting only local prescribers (37.4%), and prohibiting refills more than one day early (35.8%). Policies limiting buprenorphine access to local prescribers, local patients, and established patients varied by practice setting and were most common in independent pharmacies. The strongest barriers to buprenorphine dispensing were insurance prior authorization, difficulty reaching prescribers with questions, and concerns about buprenorphine diversion. The strongest facilitators of buprenorphine dispensing were increased communication with prescribers, increased trust with prescribers, increased trust with patients, and increased education for pharmacists. Conclusion: Most respondents indicated they were willing and able to dispense buprenorphine products for OUD promptly. However, they also reported discomfort dispensing when factors representingpotential riskof diversionare present.Mitigating thishypersensitivity to diversionrisk among pharmacists should be a focus of regulatory agencies and professional organizations. Efforts to address the unique concerns of independent pharmacistswill also be essential to improve access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]