As many of you read in my March 8 blog post, leaders of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) were at APhA headquarters last month, and a central discussion point was pharmacist provision of patient-centered services under collaborative agreements with prescribers. We have now followed up on that meeting by engaging nine other national pharmacy organizations and sending a joint letter to AAFP that further reinforces the desire to identify areas for working together to improve the care of our patients, such as principles for collaboration between physicians and pharmacists. This letter was sent not only as a follow-up to our discussion with the AAFP leadership, but also to comment on the recent policy position on pharmacists that was published by AAFP.

Often, practitioners without complete information may read a headline and conclude that one group or another is desirous of expanding inappropriately,” the letter stated. “Such concerns may be a matter of differing definitions of terminology, but we do not believe that a ‘collaborative practice agreement’ equates to ‘independent prescriptive authority.’ The construct of collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists are mutually agreed upon, voluntary in nature, and contain appropriate communication mechanisms between the physician and pharmacist to coordinate care. Initiation and monitoring of therapy occurs per protocol post-diagnosis and utilizes the expertise of the pharmacist in managing multiple medication regimens, including chronic disease management.

In addition to APhA, signatories on the letter were CEOs of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Apothecaries, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, and National Community Pharmacists Association.