Pharmacists Expand Access to Reproductive Healthcare: Reducing Unintended Pregnancy Through Pharmacist Prescription of Contraception

Direct prescription of hormonal contraception (HC) by pharmacists, without a doctor's visit or medical prescription, is a strategy to improve access to contraception and reduce unintended pregnancy. Oregon is the first state in the nation to implement legislation, as of January 1, 2016, expanding the scope of pharmacists to prescribe short-acting HCs. House Bill (HB) 2879 allows pharmacists to directly prescribe HC including the patch and pill, without a medical prescription. Women over 18 years of age can either initiate or continue HCs with a pharmacist, and women under 18 can continue a prescription.

This prospective cohort study of women presenting to initiate hormonal contraception, prescribed by a clinician or pharmacist, aims to determine contraceptive continuation and incident pregnancy rates between women receiving hormonal contraception from a pharmacist versus other prescriber. Women will be followed for one year to assess contraceptive continuation and unintended pregnancy rates.