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Background: As of October 2024, 29 states and the District of Columbia allow community pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives. Pharmacists have reported many challenges and barriers to service implementation. Methods: Concept mapping was used to gather insights from diverse stakeholders to identify resources to facilitate implementation of pharmacist-prescribed contraceptive services. Stakeholders included end-users (pharmacy managers, staff pharmacists) and decision-makers (pharmacy owners/executives). Participants' ideas for resources were collected via multi-stakeholder focus groups. Participants then rated each idea (i.e. statement) in terms of importance and feasibility (1 = not at all important/feasible, 4 = extremely important/feasible) and sorted ideas into groups based on similarity via an online survey. Sorting data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis to develop a cluster map. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze rating data to develop a go-zone map, where statements rated above average in terms of both importance and feasibility are plotted in the “go-zone” and are considered the most actionable ideas. Results: Participants (focus groups n = 19, survey n = 48) generated 46 unique statements which created four clusters via multidimensional scaling: 1) implementation guidance for practice setup, 2) marketing resources, 3) billing and payment resources, and 4) appointment management. The majority of the statements (13 of 15) considered the most actionable were from the implementation guidance and appointment management clusters. Conclusions: Stakeholders seek guidance on implementation, marketing, billing and payment, and appointment management. To increase the ability of community pharmacies to meet the contraceptive needs of patients, resources should be dedicated to creating tools and solutions to address these identified needs.

Community pharmacists’ scope of practice is expanding to include hormonal contraceptive prescribing. Prior to introducing statewide legislation, it is important to assess the perceptions of future pharmacists. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 651 third- and fourth-year professional students enrolled at three colleges of pharmacy in Indiana. Data were collected between September and October 2019 to assess students’ attitudes about prescribing hormonal contraceptives, readiness to prescribe, perceived barriers, and desire for additional training. In total, 20.9% (n = 136) students responded. Most (89%, n = 121) believe that pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraceptives would be beneficial to women in Indiana, and 91% (n = 124) reported interest in providing this service. Liability, personal beliefs, and religious beliefs were the most commonly cited perceived barriers. Most students felt they received adequate teaching on hormonal contraceptive methods (90%, n = 122) and hormonal contraceptive counseling (79%, n = 107); only 5% (n = 7) felt ready to provide the service at the time of survey completion. Student pharmacists in their final two years of pharmacy school are interested in prescribing hormonal contraceptives and believe that this service would be beneficial. This expansion of pharmacy practice would likely be supported by future pharmacists who feel the service could provide benefit to women seeking hormonal contraceptives in Indiana.