Melissa Somma McGivney

Opioid overdoses in the United States remain a significant public health concern. Opioid use disorder (OUD) is stigmatized, exacerbating negative health outcomes. Reducing stigma in healthcare, including in pharmacies, is critical. The “Let’s Talk Stigma” program was collaboratively developed with two schools of pharmacy, a local health department, and individuals with lived drug use experience. It aimed to reduce OUD-related stigma among pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, student pharmacists, and other allied health professionals. The program included six core components: a podcast, continuing education, a standardized curriculum for student pharmacists, training for pharmacy technicians and medical assistants, pharmacy outreach by student pharmacists, and partnerships with chain pharmacies. The anti-stigma podcast reached a global audience with nearly 22,000 listens, while local sessions engaged over 5000 individuals. These initiatives were integrated into Doctor of Pharmacy curricula, with student pharmacists distributing stigma-reduction kits in local pharmacies. A mixed-methods approach, incorporating qualitative data from participant reflections and quantitative data from surveys, podcast analytics, and attendance records, was used for program evaluation. Participants reported increased awareness of stigma, improved attitudes, and greater professional responsibility to reduce stigma. The program successfully leveraged partnerships, flexible delivery methods, and inclusion of people with lived drug use experience in its design.

This report describes a novel model of interprofessional education (IPE) integrated with community pharmacy patient care involving six health sciences schools within one university. The University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) six health sciences schools (Dental Medicine, Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) collaborated heavily during the initial COVID‐19 vaccination effort. These efforts led to the establishment of the pharmacist‐led Pitt Vaccination and Health Connection Hub (Hub) with University Pharmacy, the independent pharmacy on Pitt's main campus. The Hub's priority is to instill the value of interprofessional patient care in learners through collaboration across the health sciences while providing high‐quality preventive care. Between August 2022 and December 2024, approximately 2200 learners participated in educational experiences while the team administered more than 29 000 vaccines amongst other preventive health services. Through this collaboration, 10 key lessons emerged around the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) competency domains. A foundation of shared learning objectives and patient care facilitated engaging diverse levels and categories of learners while balancing varying student goals and expectations. Effective team communication and leadership support were critical, particularly given the complexity of operating a dual‐function model of patient care and education. The Hub found success by creating a welcoming environment that embraces diversity and inclusion, which enhanced the experience for both students and patients. The Hub's focus on preventive, low‐acuity care and its community pharmacy setting allowed for meaningful interprofessional interactions between health professional students. The Hub's model is an example of the potential of IPE in the community pharmacy setting to prepare health science students for collaborative practice. Future research should be conducted to evaluate outcomes of this model for participating learners and patients. Pharmacists and collaborators should consider how elements of the Hub's model and its lessons learned could be applied to develop and scale impactful pharmacist‐led IPE efforts nationwide.

Pharmacists in the community and ambulatory settings are primed for collaboration that can optimize care. Now is the time to capitalize on the momentum and positive disruption of the COVID‐19 pandemic that propelled pharmacists and their organizations to respond with agility to deliver care in new ways, pivot to develop new partnerships, and leverage technology. The growth of collaborative practice agreements within ambulatory care settings, the enhancement of clinically integrated networks, and the growth in professional organization support create an environment ripe for implementation of pharmacist‐to‐pharmacist collaborations. The American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2022 Clinical Practice Affairs B Committee sought out literature, as well as prepublication contemporary examples, demonstrating models of intraprofessional collaboration among pharmacists in community and ambulatory settings. The committee formulated six key recommendations to optimize pharmacist collaborations in the community and ambulatory settings and formed a framework for practical implementation strategies at the levels of individual pharmacists, organizations, and educational institutions and for legislative advocacy.

Objective: To evaluate practice transformation team (PTT) members' perceptions of the Flip the Pharmacy (FtP) initiative as a strategy for implementing and improving community pharmacy‐based patient care.Methods: FtP is a national 2‐year practice transformation initiative for implementing enhanced patient care and medication optimization services at community pharmacies, launched in 2019 with 28 PTTs including over 500 pharmacy locations. Key informant interviews were conducted with team leads, coaches, and pharmacy champions from four PTTs that participated in the first FtP cohort. The interviews were conducted using semistructured interview guides based on the RE‐AIM framework and focused on participants' experiences in the first year of FtP. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a rapid content analysis approach.Results: Four leads, 8 coaches, and 8 pharmacy champions were interviewed from 4 PTTs from May to October 2021 and resulted in 10 themes: (1) community pharmacy practice experience is important when selecting coaches; (2) team readiness supports successful pharmacy practice transformation; (3) measures of patient care quality are needed; (4) payment and practice transformation opportunities happen in parallel; (5) successful practice transformation requires strategic involvement of the entire pharmacy team; (6) FtP practice transformation domains are synergistic; (7) change packages, coaching, and performance monitoring are core practice transformation supports; (8) pharmacy teams value opportunities to share and learn from each other; (9) sustaining patient care services is continuous; and (10) COVID‐19 accelerated practice transformation while creating new stress points.Conclusion: Participants in this study perceived the FtP initiative as a helpful strategy implementing and improving community pharmacy‐based patient care. Future research should explore the sustainability of the FtP initiative and similar community pharmacy practice transformation efforts.

Health risk assessments (HRAs) are tools used to collect information on patients’ current health conditions, personal and family medical history, and lifestyle factors that can impact their overall health. The objectives of this pilot project were to implement an HRA as part of the appointment-based model workflow and to assess the resulting pharmacy-patient-care service opportunities. Sixteen HRA questions from a single health plan were incorporated into the appointment-based model workflow at an independent community pharmacy. Questions were administered either telephonically or in person over two patient encounters. Pharmacy staff were trained on how to administer the HRA, what to do if patients needed immediate assistance, how to provide referrals, and how to document of responses. Forty-nine patients were contacted and 38 (77.6%) completed the HRA. The median time for HRA completion was 19 min and the identified opportunities were vaccination (49), smoking cessation (15), diabetes prevention program (14), asthma control assessments (8), and substance use disorder screening and referral (3). This pilot project demonstrates that community pharmacies can implement HRAs and utilize the results to identify new pharmacy-patient-care service opportunities that can contribute to improved patient care and practice sustainability.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive medication adherence packaging (RxMAP) service on patient medication-taking behaviors and patient-centered outcomes. Adult patients who utilized a single independent community pharmacy, enrolled in the RxMAP service for at least two consecutive cycles, and managed their own medications were eligible. The RxMAP service consists of multi-dose blister packaging in 28-day cycles, medication synchronization, monthly touchpoint calls, and delivery/mailing. A 13-item telephonic survey was administered, and patients’ verbal responses were captured by audio-recording and detailed note taking. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify the results and illustrative quotes representing the interview domains were selected. There were 42 patients who completed the survey: 88% reported they missed fewer doses compared to before using RxMAP; 71% were more likely to take their medications on time each day; 86% were more confident with managing their medications; and 74% were more independent. Finally, 64% of patients stated their overall quality of life was better now compared to before using the packaging service. These results demonstrate that medication adherence packaging services can positively impact patients’ medication-taking behaviors, increase their confidence in medication management, and improve perceived quality of life.