The role of community pharmacy-based vaccination in the USA: current practice and future directions

Community pharmacy-based provision of immunizations in the USA has become commonplace in the last few decades, with success in increasing rates of immunizations. Community pharmacy-based vaccination services are provided by pharmacists educated in the practice of immunization delivery and provide a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Integrated pharmacy research and practice 2015-01, Vol.4 (Issue 1), p.67-77
Main Authors: Bach, Albert T, Goad, Jeffery A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accreditation
Adults
Age
community pharmacy
Continuity of care
Curricula
Disease
Disease prevention
Drug stores
Drug therapy
FDA approval
Health care policy
Immunization
Influenza
Keywords: immunization
Patients
pharmacists
pharmacy practice
Public health
Review
Self study
vaccination
Vaccines
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Summary:Community pharmacy-based provision of immunizations in the USA has become commonplace in the last few decades, with success in increasing rates of immunizations. Community pharmacy-based vaccination services are provided by pharmacists educated in the practice of immunization delivery and provide a convenient and accessible option for receiving immunizations. The pharmacist's role in immunization practice has been described as serving in the roles of educator, facilitator, and immunizer. With a majority of pharmacist-provided vaccinations occurring in the community pharmacy setting, there are many examples of community pharmacists serving in these immunization roles with successful outcomes. Different community pharmacies employ a number of different models and workflow practices that usually consist of a year-round in-house service staffed by their own immunizing pharmacist. Challenges that currently exist in this setting are variability in scopes of immunization practice for pharmacists across states, inconsistent reimbursement mechanisms, and barriers in technology. Many of these challenges can be alleviated by continual education; working with legislators, state boards of pharmacy, stakeholders, and payers to standardize laws; and reimbursement design. Other challenges that may need to be addressed are improvements in communication and continuity of care between community pharmacists and the patient centered medical home.
ISSN:2230-5254
2230-5254
DOI:10.2147/IPRP.S63822