EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On July 21, 2023, the CEO Deans of the Pharmacy Deans Research Group (PDRG; representing the top 25 R1 pharmacy schools), their communitybased practice leads, and select AcademiaCommunity Transformation (ACT) Pharmacy Collaborative Champions came together with Walgreens for a Community Pharmacy Practice Roundtable to progress community-based pharmacy practice through collaboration, innovation, and education. This roundtable identified multiple opportunities for creating a unified and positive image of the pharmacy profession, increasing patient-centric services, and improving payment models for pharmacy practice. Key strategic initiatives were identified for continued collaboration to elevate community pharmacy practice and improve patient care

The roundtable goals were to:

Appreciate the opportunities for patient care in community-based pharmacy settings. Address challenges or barriers to the implementation of patient care. Identify key initiatives to transform community-based pharmacy practice to improve patient outcomes.

Opportunities to capitalize included:

Marketing & Communications - marketing to young audiences and the public, and using a consistent vernacular around communitybased practice.

Education & Advocacy - educating students and faculty about community-based practice, using our schools as neutral conveners, educating legislators, and working together to shape policy change.

Clinical Services - leveraging practice-based research, partnering with corporate pharmacies to improve community-based pharmacy workflow, utilizing our students' skills to scale patient care services and generate impact data, and using technology to enhance clinical services.

Challenges or barriers to address included:

Curricular - ensuring students have a curriculum/co-curriculum focused on the business of healthcare, and conducting experiential education assessments to improve community-based practice sites. Perception - performing public marketing with one voice, improving professional perceptions about community-based practice, and educating clinician partners about value-based care partnerships with community-based practice.

Utilization - fully utilizing pharmacists as the medication experts to ensure access, optimize medication use, and promote health and well-being Variations in the scope of practice limit pharmacist engagement with patients across states, and pharmacists are routinely reimbursed based on medication product rather than team-based services provided.

Initiatives – Roundtables identified and prioritized 12 initiatives. The following next steps were identified:

Partner together to develop public service announcements on pharmacy career potential and impact.

PDRG Deans develop shared messaging for community-based practice.

PDRG schools and Walgreens engage in the Align Summit.

Walgreens to partner with PDRG schools and AACP/ACT on using Flip the Pharmacy framework to implement patient services in their stores at scale.

Opportunities

Stefanie Ferreri articulated key data for community pharmacy, noting that 63% of graduating PharmD students and 42% of PharmD alums identified community pharmacy as their primary place of employment (2022 AACP survey). She noted endless opportunities for pharmacist-led patient engagement because patients visit their community pharmacy ~10x more frequently than their primary care physician Using the pandemic as an example, community-based pharmacists demonstrated significant impact in improving patient care at a lower cost (Figure 1)

Speakers provided three perspectives on the top opportunities for patient care in community-based pharmacy settings:

JohnColaizzi(WalgreensPerspective) identified opportunities for technology-enabled models to support the future of community-based pharmacy practice, beginning with efficiencies through micro-fulfillment and centralized services. He noted that Walgreens wishes to reinvent the patient experience by adding digital solutions, expanding clinical services, and changing store format (to place the pharmacy in the front) to increase patient engagement.

MirandaSteinkopf(AACPPerspective) described the goals of the ACT Pharmacy Collaborative as uniting schools of pharmacy and pharmacist leaders to transform communitybased practice, mobilizing stakeholders to facilitate the implementation of community-based care, and amplifying the implementation of sustainable care delivery. She described three ACT Signature Programs as opportunities for the coming year: PharmD Student Scholars, a Faculty Practice Transformation Badge, and a Center of Excellence Program for Pharmacy Schools.

KellyGoode(AcademiaPerspective) described 181 PGY1 community-based residency programs nationally. She identified opportunities for community-based pharmacist services, including wellness and prevention, laboratory testing and screening, patient education, and medication optimization. She noted that these activities can go beyond the walls of a community pharmacy and include patient home visits or being embedded/semi-embedded in medical offices or senior care facilities. To improve the health and economics of the communities they serve, community-based pharmacists have the opportunity to address the quintuple aims: improved patient experience, better outcomes, lower costs, clinician wellbeing, and health equity.

IN THE PANDEMIC, COMMUNITY-BASED PHARMACISTS...

administered 45% of all US vaccines tested >42 million patient specimens provided >100,000 monoclonal antibody treatments averted >8 million hospitalizations and >1 million deaths saved health care $450 billion