Sustainable Education and Training Model under Pharmacist Provider The SETMuPP team goal is to empower pharmacists to begin providing and billing for services in their practices, and we accomplish that by providing educational tools and support. As the landscape for pharmacists continues to expand, barriers about sustainability and reimbursement must be addressed. To navigate these barriers the SETMuP project has been working with two pioneering pharmacists for two years. The result of this collaboration has been expansion of health services provided by pharmacists and subsequent reimbursement by both public and private payers. This is an excerpt from an interview with two pharmacists who are among the first in Alaska to successfully perform and bill for medical services within their pharmacy practices.
reimburse pharmacists for clinical services not tied to dispensing, which include counseling services and disease state management.
Dr. Angela Jaglowicz is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Alaska and Idaho State University College of Pharmacy and a clinical pharmacist at Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, a federally qualified health center. Dr. Amy Paul is a clinical pharmacist at a family medicine residency site, Providence Family Medicine Center in Anchorage, AK. Previously, she worked with Providence Senior Care, where she established ambulatory pharmacy services.
Q: What initially motivated you to pursue this project?
Q: Tell us about your work involving reimbursement for performing health services as pharmacists.
Full interview at isu.edu/pharmacy.
Q: How long did it take to develop these new processes, begin implementing them and receive your first reimbursement? AJ: Adding clinical pharmacy disease management services took about two years. Once clinical pharmacy services were approved by the site, building a patient panel took a few months. The process of submitting claims for reimbursement was a year-long process. Q: What challenges, facilitators, and barriers did you face? AJ: Challenges included receiving board approval for our collaborative practice agreement and developing EHR templates and forms from scratch. Because the providers were unfamiliar with pharmacy services at the practice site, it took some time to develop a patient panel. Facilitating pharmacist billing in a site that had not done so before was difficult. The SETMuPP team provided thorough training and was instrumental in overcoming this hurdle. AJ: Working in Alaska has made me more motivated to be active in the profession because pharmacists in Alaska are few but have a louder voice. It’s such an astronomical shortage of resources up here, so I really try to close gaps of care with patients. Q: What advice would you give to other pharmacists who want to start providing and being reimbursed for health services? AJ: Reach out to your state organizations like the Alaska Pharmacists Association, as they have some great resources and training. Madeline Foster Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate, Class of 2022, Pocatello
AJ: The goal of this project is for medical payors, including private insurers, Medicaid, and Medicare, to
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