Provision of Mental and Behavioral Health Supports and Services by Pharmacists in Washington State.

Pharmacists are highly accessible healthcare professionals with presence in communities, hospitals, and clinics. They are well positioned to expand their roles in supporting individuals with mental health challenges. A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify trends in how pharmacists assess, monitor, identify, and care for patients with mental health challenges.

A 2023 Washington State pharmacist workforce survey: Employment and patient care roles.

Background: The pharmacy workforce is evolving rapidly, and while national data reveal broad trends, they often overlook the impact of state-level policies on local pharmacy practice and education.

Objective: To describe employment status and patient care roles of pharmacists in Washington State.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of pharmacists licensed in Washington State was conducted in June-July 2023.

It Can No Longer Be Optional-Medical Billing in the PharmD Curriculum.

Pharmacists across the United States are rapidly gaining the ability to bill the medical benefit, increasing their ability to optimally and sustainably contribute to patient care. Medical billing is the process by which a provider submits a claim for reimbursement to the medical insurance benefit based on services provided to a patient. As pharmacists lean into new and expanding opportunities related to medical billing, pharmacy educators must also prepare graduates who can explain the importance of and execute skills related to medical billing.

Vaccination payments in states with provider status for pharmacists: A claims analysis.

Background: Federal-level legislation to recognize pharmacists as providers and thus allow insurance reimbursement for health services claims, not just prescription drug claims (known as provider status), has been advocated for by the profession but is yet to be passed into federal law. Several state governments have enacted this recognition for commercial insurance and/or Medicaid plans. However, the impact of these laws on reimbursement and access to health services has yet to be explored empirically.

A community pharmacist intervention for people living with epilepsy.

Background: Epilepsy is a complex spectrum of seizure disorders. Antiseizure medications (ASMs) are the first-line treatment for most patients. Community pharmacists are among the most accessible healthcare providers with extensive knowledge of pharmacotherapy yet are seldom engaged in epilepsy care.

Act for the Future of Community Pharmacy.

Community pharmacies serve as a vital gateway to primary care and public health, offering face-to-face pharmacist expert care to assure safe and effective medication use. However, they are disappearing at an alarming rate, with 20-30% of all community pharmacy locations projected to close within the next year. The objective of this commentary is to highlight the critical need for systemic reforms and collective action within our profession to address the unique challenges faced by community pharmacies, ensuring their sustainability and continued role in providing essential healthcare services for patients.

A qualitative analysis of opportunities to strengthen pharmacy technician career pathways across practice settings.

Purpose: To identify pharmacy technician career pathways across pharmacy practice settings and opportunities to strengthen and expand these pathways.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 17 participants from national pharmacy organizations, community pharmacies, health systems, and academia from March to May 2023. Interview questions were designed to elicit participants' perceptions of factors influencing entry into, recruitment and retention of, and advancement of the pharmacy technician workforce.

Community Pharmacist-Centered training program improves confidence in delivering epilepsy care.

Rationale: Incorporating pharmacists into interdisciplinary healthcare teams can improve patient outcomes across disease states; however, there is little evidence describing pharmacists' contributions to epilepsy care. Previous research from our group revealed that community pharmacists are well positioned to serve as patient advocates, monitor medications, and provide education for people living with epilepsy. However, pharmacists would like to receive additional training in epilepsy management.

Locations and characteristics of pharmacy deserts in the United States: a geospatial study.

Pharmacies are important health care access points, but no national map currently exists of where pharmacy deserts are located. This cross-sectional study used pharmacy address data and Census Bureau surveys to define pharmacy deserts at the census tract level in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia. We also compared sociodemographic characteristics of pharmacy desert vs non-pharmacy desert communities.

Using design thinking to strengthen the community pharmacist's role in epilepsy care.

Objective: To use design thinking to develop a community pharmacist-led intervention for people living with epilepsy (PWE) with desirable, feasible, and viable features.

Methods: This study used design thinking. Three patient personas were created based on previous research: a newly diagnosed PWE, a well-controlled PWE, and a complex PWE with uncontrolled seizures.

Impact of Pre-Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) Curriculum on Student Pharmacists' Professional Identity Formation.

Objective: To (1) evaluate changes in student pharmacists' professional identity during a curriculum prior to advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) and (2) describe the components of a pre-APPE curriculum that positively and negatively influenced students' professional identity formation (PIF).

Methods: The University of Washington School of Pharmacy launched a new curriculum in 2019 featuring components intentionally designed to support students' PIF. The Macleod-Clark Professional Identity Scale (MCPIS) was administered to the class of 2023 before starting pharmacy school (pre) and upon completion of the pre-APPE curriculum (post).

A Qualitative Study of Experiences Contributing to Professional Identity Formation in Recent Pharmacy Graduates.

Objective: A professional identity has been described as "an individual thinking, acting, and feeling" like a person within the profession. The objective of this study was to learn about professional identity formation (PIF) in recent graduates of a pharmacy program.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with students graduating from a doctor of pharmacy degree program.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Community Pharmacy Workforce.

This study sought to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community pharmacy practice and its workforce. Interviews were conducted with 18 key informants from pharmacy associations and community pharmacists representing chain and independent pharmacy organizations across the United States from January to May 2022. Interview notes were analyzed using a rapid content analysis approach.

Readying Community Pharmacies to Participate in COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination.

Objective: Washington State established a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and operational plan in 2012 to coordinate pharmacy infrastructure and workforce during a public health emergency. The objectives of this study were to adapt the MOU operational plan to the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and assess community pharmacies' organizational readiness to implement COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

Methods: This mixed methods study was conducted June-August 2020.

Community pharmacist intervention to optimize statin adherence in diabetes care: The GuIDE-S study.

Background: Statin use in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) reduces cardiovascular events, yet adherence remains suboptimal.

Objective: This study evaluated the impact of a community pharmacist intervention on statin adherence in new users with T2D.

Methods: As part of a quasi-experimental study, community pharmacy staff proactively identified adult patients with T2D who were not prescribed a statin.

Pharmacy deserts and COVID-19 risk at the census tract level in the State of Washington.

Community pharmacies are a crucial component of healthcare infrastructure, including for COVID-19 pandemic prevention services like testing and vaccination. Communities that are "pharmacy deserts," experience healthcare inequities. However, little research has characterized where these communities are, making it difficult for local leaders to prioritize resources for them.

Community pharmacist intervention to close statin gaps in diabetes care: The GuIDE-S study.

Background: Statin therapy is recommended for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) to lower cardiovascular risk; however, evidence suggests that significant gaps in statin therapy exist.

Objective: To evaluate (1) the impact of a community pharmacist-led model for initiating statin therapy in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) on statin initiation and (2) pharmacists' self-reported perceptions of the intervention feasibility and fidelity to the intervention.

Methods: This was a type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation study of 9 intervention and 18 control pharmacies within a community pharmacy chain.

A taxonomy for community pharmacy patient care services reported in Pharmacist eCare Plans.

Background: Pharmacies belonging to the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Service Networks (CPESN) are transforming their practices with support of the Flip the Pharmacy initiative. These pharmacies are submitting eCare plans that describe care that they have provided to patients.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were (1) To develop a taxonomy for services reported by community pharmacies participating in year 1 of the Flip the Pharmacy initiative and (2) to illustrate the use of the taxonomy for hypertension-related services.

Stakeholder perceptions of community pharmacist population health management of people living with epilepsy.

Objective: To identify the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors influencing the integration of community pharmacists in population health approaches to epilepsy care.

Methods: Key informant interviews were conducted with 32 stakeholders, including five people living with epilepsy (PWE), ten caregivers of PWE, seven epileptologists, one neurologist, one epilepsy nurse, and eight community pharmacists in Washington State and Oregon from September 2019 to February 2020. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a rapid content analysis approach guided by the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model to identify predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors influencing integration of community pharmacists in population health approaches to epilepsy care.

Building Implementation Science Capacity in Academic Pharmacy: Report of the 2020-2021 AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee.

The 2020-2021 AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) continued the work begun by the 2019-2020 RGAC to increase awareness of and capacity for implementation research to advance practice transformation in academic pharmacy. AACP President Anne Lin charged the RGAC with developing resources and programs for training faculty and graduate students in implementation science. The committee was further charged with developing a mechanism to pair pharmacy faculty and implementation experts on practice advancement projects.

Pharmacist-led interventions to improve medication adherence in older adults: A meta-analysis.

Background/objective: As pharmacists work to ensure reimbursement for chronic disease management services on the national level, evidence of their impact on important health metrics, such as medication adherence, is needed. However, summative evidence is lacking on the effectiveness of pharmacists to improve medication adherence in older adults. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions on medication adherence in older adults (65+ years).

Community pharmacists' role in caring for people living with epilepsy: A scoping review.

Objective: To identify and describe studies about pharmacist-provided services for people with epilepsy and their caregivers.

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for articles that were: (1) written in English, (2) published in 1985 or later, (3) a peer-reviewed empirical study or practice report, and (4) describing an intervention provided by a pharmacist for people with epilepsy and/or their caregivers in an outpatient pharmacy setting. The abstracts and full text, when necessary, were reviewed by two investigators to assess eligibility.

Strengthening pandemic preparedness through pharmacy and public health collaborations: Findings from a facilitated discussion exercise.

Background: Community pharmacists are key partners to public health agencies during pandemics and other emergencies. Community pharmacy and public health agencies can establish memoranda of understanding (MOUs) for dispensing and administering medical countermeasures and providing related services to affected population(s) during a public health incident.

Objective: The objective of this facilitated discussion exercise was to identify the strengths and opportunities associated with the activation of a statewide pharmacy-public health agencies MOU with community pharmacists on the basis of a simulated pandemic influenza event.

Implementation Science to Advance Practice and Curricular Transformation: Report of the 2019-2020 AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee.

The 2019-2020 AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) was charged with articulating the case for and evaluating the state of implementation science in academic pharmacy, given the potential for implementation science to act as a driver of practice and curricular transformation. Based on the current state of pharmacy research in this area, the RGAC was further charged with outlining a plan to raise the profile of implementation science with pharmacy leadership and defining strategies for AACP to facilitate schools in applying its methods to their practice and education missions. For this work, the RGAC considered implementation science to be the scientific study of methods and strategies to promote adoption of evidence-based practices and interventions into real world settings and routine practice, to improve the quality and effectiveness of services.