American Pharmacists Month: Community Pharmacies Becoming Care Providers

Community pharmacy’s business model is under pressure. According to Melissa McGivney, PharmD, FAPhA, FCCP, chief of professional and member experience with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), that pressure is pushing the profession to reinvent itself.

“What has been really incredible, if you look primarily at folks that own their own independent pharmacies, [is] the innovation that is happening right now,” she told Drug Topics® earlier in October, in celebration of American Pharmacists Month. “It’s actually amazing. So much of it is coming off the heels of the need to make changes, because the business model is changing.”

McGivney said the most significant innovation is happening within the necessary care that accompanies the medication. Regulatory and legislative changes are expanding pharmacists’ scope, including prescribing authority for test-and-treat services in a growing number of states.

She pointed to the Main Street Pharmacy Access Act as a key development; a bill that would allow pharmacists to test and treat for COVID-19, strep, flu, and RSV in states that permit it, and would recognize pharmacists as Medicare Part B providers. McGivney said the outlook is positive and encouraged pharmacists to advocate for the legislation now.

Looking ahead, McGivney highlights technologically driven changes in drug delivery, wearables, gene and cell therapy, and personalized medicine. As medications become more complex and individualized, she said, pharmacists’ greatest asset will remain their adaptability and their connection with patients, families, and caregivers, helping people get the most out of their medications however they receive them.

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month: The Many Career Paths US Pharmacists Explore

Drug Topics: How would you explain the current state of independent and retail community pharmacy practice, and what have pharmacists done to make this a reality?

Melissa McGivney: We think about it broadly as community pharmacy practice, and there’s different ways that pharmacists practice in business models throughout the country. What has been really incredible, if you look primarily at folks that own their own independent pharmacies, [is] the innovation that is happening right now. It’s actually amazing. So much of it is coming off the heels of the need to make changes, because the business model is changing. The same can be said for chain and grocery store pharmacies, mass merchandisers. There’s a lot that’s happening in each of the business entities that is really focused on ensuring that people have access to public health-related care.

When we think about that, there’s lots of things happening on the dispensing side of things; drugs getting to patients in all kinds of innovative ways. But then, we have the care that’s needed that goes along with the product. That’s where we’re seeing the innovation happening and sweeping across the country. There are regulatory and legislative changes that are happening. Those are the tip of the iceberg. You’re going to see that pharmacists are able to prescribe for test-and-treat in a certain number of states with a certain number of diseases and conditions. We’re starting to see the advancement well beyond vaccines that are delivering throughout the country, and the payment of pharmacist services; the service that goes along with taking care of the patient. We’re seeing delivery models being uncovered and developed across the spectrum of community-based pharmacies.

We’re seeing this coalescing of the fact that we are patient care providers. One of the areas that we’re going to see a lot more of over the course of the next few weeks, until the end of this calendar year, the Main Street Pharmacy Access Act, which is the ability for pharmacists to provide test-and-treat in the states that allow that to happen for upper respiratory diseases and conditions; COVID-19, strep, flu, and RSV. There’s also recognition of pharmacists as Medicare Part B providers. That is a really key shift, should that pass.

Things are looking very positive. But as folks are listening to this, I hope they know that they can go and advocate today to really share their voice and their support for pharmacists to be able to be considered providers under Medicare Part B. That momentum that has been happening throughout multiple states, and now at a federal level, is going to be one of the keys that’s going to allow people in their respective communities to actually receive the care.

Drug Topics: Amid the rapid change pharmacy has experienced in recent history, what do you believe is the next frontier for the profession?

Melissa McGivney: There are so many things on the horizon. I think that’s one of the biggest aspects; when we talk with students, the future is so bright. We can talk about the work that’s happening in communities, and you’re going to see that transform very quickly. As we start to see changes, not only with what we hope becomes enacted, the Main Street Pharmacy Act, we’re also seeing changes in the way that we’re using technology to get drug to patient. We’re seeing so much more in the space of wearables and how that impacts folks’ health. We’re also seeing changes in the way that drugs are utilized, delivered. You’re seeing gene and cell therapy. You’re seeing personalized medication that’s getting to people right where they’re at. The technology that is changing the way that not only drugs are uncovered and discovered, but how they’re utilized, is really phenomenal.

I think the next horizon, and the thing that pharmacists have been incredibly great at, is that adaptability. I think you’re going to see that love for sharing what we do with people in our communities being the driving force of how we really, in a practical way, help people get the most out of their medications—no matter how they get those medications. The ability to have the pharmacist there in a connected way to support the individual, their families, and the individuals that support them, is really at the heart of who we are as a profession.

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month Resource Center