Six New Clinical Services
Pharmacogenetic testing, contraceptives, and more!
When I was a pharmacy student two decades ago, I met an acquaintance who asked what I was studying. As I described the pharmacy school curriculum, her response was incredulous: “You need to know all that to put pills in a bottle?”
These days, community pharmacists are far beyond putting pills in a bottle and have many opportunities to use their drug knowledge to provide services for patients. What a pharmacist is allowed to do varies from state to state with differing regulations, but these services allow pharmacists to increase their clinical interactions with patients while generating additional revenue streams.
Click ‘Read More’ below each slide to read the full coverage from our August issue...
Point of Care (POC) Testing for Flu and Strep
There are many Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-waived tests that can be provided in a pharmacy setting, with strep and flu tests being particularly attractive to patients. In states where pharmacies can set up collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) with physicians to allow them to prescribe antibiotics and antivirals, patients can have these drugs dispensed immediately after positive POC testing.
Erica Burman, PharmD, pharmacist manager at Goodrich Pharmacy in St. Francis, MN, reports that patients are “surprisingly” happy to pay the out-of-pocket fee of $40 for strep tests and $60 for flu tests…
Expanded Immunization Programs
“Immunizations have become a mainstay for community pharmacy,” says Suzanne Higginbotham, PharmD, “but we’re trying to teach pharmacists to not just give a flu shot, but to perform an entire immunization needs assessment on patients.” Higginbotham is the director of the Center for Pharmacy Care, Residency Programs and Continuing Pharmacy Education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. According to the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA), 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico allow pharmacists to administer any vaccine, although some require prescription, and some have limitations by patient age…
Long-Acting Injectable Drugs
In states that allow pharmacists to administer intramuscular and subcutaneous injections, pharmacies can serve as alternate injection sites for long-acting injectable antipsychotic agents (LAIAs) and other medications. This can occur under CPAs with mental health practitioners or through partnerships with LAIA manufacturers. Jennifer Helmke, PharmD, pharmacy manager at Bremo Pharmacy in Richmond, VA, reports that manufacturers that partner with Bremo refer patients to the pharmacy to receive their injections and assist with patient reminders. Administration fees are either paid by the manufacturer or the pharmacy charges the patient a $20 injection fee...
Smoking Cessation Counseling
“We see patients monthly, and we see them outside smoking,” says Neil Leikach, RPh, owner of Your Community Pharmacy in Catonsville, MD, “and if they want to stop, we can help them.” There are various ways pharmacies can implement smoking cessation counseling. In fact, several states currently have statutes or regulations addressing pharmacist prescribing of tobacco cessation aids.
Good Day Pharmacy, which has nine locations in northern Colorado, has developed a protocol through which pharmacists provide 30-minute consultations with patients to discuss their smoking cessation options...
Contraceptive Prescribing
In an effort to improve access to contraceptives and reduce unintended pregnancy rates, there is a nationwide push to allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives. (See Birth Control Services Help Attract and Keep Patients). Colorado is one of 10 jurisdictions with statutes or regulations that allow pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives, according to NASPA....
Pharmacogenetic Testing
Pharmacists’ knowledge of pharmacokinetics, drug transport, and drug metabolism make them ideally suited to become involved in the expanding field of pharmacogenetic testing, says Elise Durgin, PharmD, PGY1 ambulatory care resident at University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and Goodrich Pharmacy...
Download Issue: Drug Topics August 2019