In 2009-2010, the Seattle-King County Advanced Practice Center (SKC-APC) conducted various activities to include retail pharmacies in public health disaster preparedness programs. The goal of bringing together pharmacists, pharmacist associations and public health officials was to develop a set of tools that would help local health departments integrate pharmacies into their response efforts through a Pharmacotherapy Collaboration Agreement (CDTA). A CDTA is an agreement between pharmacists and licensed prescribing physicians (i.e.B. physicians, physician assistants, nurses) that allows pharmacists to prescribe, modify or discontinue medication for a patient without the need to see a physician. [18] CPAs are at the heart of the advocacy efforts of professional pharmacy organizations. . Meetings with pharmacists and pharmacy organizations prior to the development of the SKC-APC CDTA Toolkit identified the types of information and materials needed to support effective pharmacy-public health partnerships. SKC-APC organized a Pharmacy Leadership Summit to bring together 35 local organizations such as public health; commercial, independent, hospital and ethnic pharmacies; and public medical services. The CPA has also formed a Pharmacy Operations Advisory Committee to lead discussions on how pharmacies can be more involved in public health emergencies. These activities have led to lasting partnerships between public health organizations and pharmaceutical organizations, and the discussions have provided valuable insights into how CTAs could be a viable strategy to ensure that medicines are delivered quickly and reliably in the event of a disaster. Meetings with pharmacists and pharmacy organizations prior to the development of the SKC-APC CDTA toolkit identified the types of information and materials needed to support effective partnerships between pharmacy and public health.
SKC-APC hosted a Pharmacy Leadership Summit to bring together 35 local organizations such as public health; commercial, independent, hospital and ethnic pharmacies; and public medical services. The CPA also formed a Pharmaceutical Operations Advisory Committee to lead discussions on how pharmacies could be more involved in public health emergencies. These activities led to lasting partnerships between public health agencies and pharmacies, and discussions provided valuable information on how ACTs could be a viable strategy to ensure that drugs are delivered quickly and reliably in the event of a disaster. The ADCA`s toolkit is quite extensive and is intended to serve as a public health guide throughout the process of developing agreements with pharmacies. To this end, it provides numerous documents and guidelines to document the steps involved in the development of a CDTA or Memorandum of Understanding that defines the role of pharmacies in the event of a disaster. The toolkit also calls on local health authorities to work with pharmacists to develop strategies that clearly define how medicines and vaccines are delivered in emergencies. In 2010, the American Medical Association (AMA) published a series of reports entitled « AMA Scope of Practice Data Series ». [61] One of the reports focused on the profession of pharmacist, which criticized the training of CPAs as an attempt by pharmacists to intervene in the physician`s field of activity. In response to the report, a collaboration of seven national associations of professional pharmacists drafted a response to WADA`s report on pharmacists. [62] The response requested WADA to correct its report and publish the revised report with errata. [63] In 2011, WADA`s Chamber of Deputies adopted a more flexible tone in response to contributions from APhA and other apotheic professional associations, and finally passed the following resolution, which drew attention to the rejection of independent (not collaborative or dependent) practice agreements: pharmacists involved in PHAs can participate in clinical services outside the traditional field of practice of pharmacists.
In particular, pharmacists are not required to participate in the SPA in order to offer a large number of pharmacy services already covered by their traditional activity, such as. B.B the management of drug therapy, the provision of disease prevention services (e.B.B vaccinations), the implementation of screenings in the field of public health (e.B.B the screening of depressive disorders such as.B. major depressive disorders, administration of HQP-2), provide specific education on the state of the disease (e.g. B as a certified diabetes educator) and advise patients on information about their medications. ATDCs, when developed as a result of a strong and enduring partnership between public health and pharmacies, can be of significant benefit to emergency response in a number of ways. They can reduce the number of patients seeking treatment in clinics and health authorities by transferring prescribing power to pharmacists. CDTAs can also improve access to care for people who might not be able to travel to a clinic or hospital in an emergency, as retail and community pharmacies are widely used in communities across the country. CDTAs are legally recognized in 43 states, and all states include provisions to expand the skills of pharmacists through an emergency executive order.
The CDIC toolkit is quite extensive and is intended to serve as a public health guide throughout the pharmacy agreement development process. To this end, it contains numerous documents and guidelines for recording the steps taken to develop a CDTA or Memorandum of Understanding that defines the role of pharmacies in the event of a disaster. The toolkit also calls on local health authorities to work with pharmacists to develop strategies that clearly define how medicines and vaccines are dispensed in an emergency. Specific tools include: Public health efforts in Seattle-King County have shown the benefits of the toolkit. .