Identification and Characterization of Workflow Models for Medication Therapy Management in Community Pharmacies.

Community pharmacists providing medication therapy management (MTM) services report difficulty incorporating MTM services with dispensing and other pharmacy services. A variety of approaches exist due to a lack of an ideal standard for service integration. This study seeks to identify and characterize MTM workflow models in pharmacies of one geographic area of a large community pharmacy chain.

The Report of the 2022-2023 AACP Professional Affairs Standing Committee: Focused Integration of Community-Based Pharmacy Practice Within the AACP Transformation Center.

The 2022-2023 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Devise a framework and 3-year workplan for the Academia-Community Pharmacy Transformation Pharmacy Collaborative to be integrated within the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Transformation Center. This plan should include the focus area(s) to be continued and developed by the Center, potential milestone dates or events, and necessary resources; and (2) Provide recommendations on focus areas and/or potential questions for the Pharmacy Workforce Center to consider for the 2024 National Pharmacist Workforce Study. This report provides the background and methodology utilized to develop the framework and 3-year workplan focused on (1) community-based pharmacy pipeline development for recruitment, programming, and retention, (2) programming and resources for community-based pharmacy practice, and (3) research areas for community-based pharmacy practice.

Using Instagram Stories to supplement a required self-care pharmacy course.

Background And Purpose: Social media is widely used among Americans, with Instagram being especially popular in adults under age 30. There are few examples of the use of Instagram in pharmacy education and no reports of student perspectives on using Instagram to supplement self-care pharmacy coursework. This article describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a teaching innovation using Instagram Stories to supplement a required self-care course.

Expanding scope: Impact and preferred implementation strategies for statewide test and treat protocols.

Background: Arkansas Act 503 allows pharmacists to test and treat health conditions performed with waived tests using a statewide protocol. To guide development and implementation of these protocols, this study was conducted after enactment of Act 503 and before protocols were published.

Objectives: The objectives were to determine pharmacy leaderships' perceived impact on point-of-care testing (POCT) services in Arkansas and preferred implementation strategies for expanding scope of practice.

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.

Redefining 'advanced': Supporting and promoting practice change through community advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

Introduction: Community pharmacy practice in the United States (US) has faced several external pressures, threatening traditional practice models. Schools and colleges of pharmacy (S/COP), particularly through experiential rotations, are perfectly poised to help these practices create new sustainable business models. The purpose of this article is to highlight demonstrated, reproducible successes of community advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) advancement initiatives.

Advanced pharmacy practice experience students at the intersection of education and practice transformation.

Background And Purpose: Community pharmacy practice is transforming from traditional dispensing roles, and advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) could be a viable mechanism to assist pharmacies during transformation. A new type of APPE is described and the design, outcomes, and feedback from the first students and pharmacies piloting this rotation are discussed.

Educational Activity And Setting: A four-week elective APPE was designed to position fourth-year students as facilitators for community pharmacy transformation activities.

Evaluation of an accredited training program on implementation of point-of-care testing in community pharmacies.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the National Association of Chain Drugstores' point-of-care testing (POCT) training program's effect on the implementation of pharmacy POCT services in Arkansas and barriers that may have prevented or slowed implementation. The secondary objective was to evaluate the quality of the training program by asking participants to report their feelings of preparedness at the conclusion of the training and once they began implementing POCT services independently.

Methods: In July 2019, 57 pharmacists in Arkansas were invited by e-mail to participate in a survey project to evaluate the effectiveness of the POCT training program.

Development and implementation of a collaboration between a patient-centered medical home and community pharmacy.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the development and implementation strategies used in the collaboration between a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) and a grocery pharmacy chain and to evaluate the effectiveness of a community pharmacist's clinical integration in reducing hemoglobin A1c levels at clinic and patient levels.

Setting: The Kroger Co and Catholic Health Initiative St. Vincent.

Implementation of technician-driven medication therapy management program in community pharmacies.

Objectives: Pharmacists have reported barriers in implementing medication therapy management (MTM) services into community pharmacy workflow. A community pharmacy grocery chain created an MTM training program with detailed workflow manual and templates intended as a turnkey operation for MTM implementation. To expand the use of this program, 20 community pharmacies were trained in January 2017.

Development of Community Pharmacy Characteristics Questionnaire: Application of Cognitive Interviewing.

Background: A questionnaire specific to community pharmacy characteristics, such as staffing models for clinical activities and business operations, does not exist. As community pharmacy practice expands, it is important to characterize how pharmacies are changing for outcomes research. The aim of this study was to conduct cognitive interviewing with community pharmacists to gain feedback on the formatting, readability, and content of items measuring community pharmacy characteristics to develop such a questionnaire.

Positive Impact of Technician-Driven MTM Program on Performance Measures.

Objective: To determine the effect of using a technician-driven medication therapy management (MTM) program on quality performance measures for a community pharmacy chain.

Methods: A technician-driven MTM program was incorporated in 35 stores of a regional supermarket pharmacy chain. The overall chain percentage score for the 4 quality measures used in Medicare Part D Star Ratings-proportion of days covered (PDC) for cholesterol, diabetes, renin-angiotensin system antagonists (RASA), and high-risk medication use-was compared pre- and postimplementation of the technician-driven MTM program.

Physician-reported factors that encourage collaboration with community pharmacists.

Objective: To determine factors that encourage physicians to establish collaborative practice agreements with community pharmacists.

Methods: A 20-item cross-sectional survey was mailed to a random sample of 1000 family medicine physicians practicing in North Carolina. Two weeks after the initial mailing, a reminder was sent to physicians.

Implementing an integrated care management program in community pharmacies: A focus on medication management services.

Objectives: To describe the initiation of a community pharmacy medication management service within a statewide integrated care management program.

Setting: One hundred twenty-three community and community health center pharmacies in 58 counties of North Carolina.

Practice Description: Independent and community health center pharmacies offering medication management as part of an integrated care management program to Medicaid, Medicare, dually eligible Medicare-Medicaid, and NC Health Choice beneficiaries in North Carolina.

Pharmacy characteristics associated with the provision of medication management services within an integrated care management program.

Objectives: To examine pharmacy operational and personnel characteristics that influence engagement in providing a community pharmacy medication management service within a statewide integrated care management program.

Methods: Before the program launch, all of the pharmacies were surveyed to collect demographic, operational, and personnel characteristics such as weekly prescription volume and number of staff, respectively. Those data were then compared with engagement in the program.

Fellowships in community pharmacy research: Experiences of five schools and colleges of pharmacy.

Objective: To describe common facilitators, challenges, and lessons learned in 5 schools and colleges of pharmacy in establishing community pharmacy research fellowships.

Setting: Five schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States.

Practice Description: Schools and colleges of pharmacy with existing community partnerships identified a need and ability to develop opportunities for pharmacists to engage in advanced research training.

Early Introduction to Professional and Ethical Dilemmas in a Pharmaceutical Care Laboratory Course.

Objective: To study the effects of an early professional development series in a pharmaceutical care laboratory (PCL) course on first-year pharmacy students' perceptions of the importance of professional attitudes and action.

Design: Three hundred thirty-four first-year students enrolled in a PCL course participated in a new required learning activity centered on development of professional attitudes and behaviors. Students discussed situational dilemmas in pharmacy practice in small groups, highlighting application of the Oath of a Pharmacist and the Pharmacists' Code of Ethics.

A model to inform community pharmacy's collaboration in outpatient care.

Value-driven health care and team-based care are gaining momentum from policymakers, payers, and providers. An important facet to examine is the health care team, especially in outpatient care. Community pharmacy is a significant aspect of the patient's health experience and a valuable component of outpatient care.