Thanks to Jon Roth, California Pharmacists Association exec, for sharing the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) recently completed white paper that documents evidence for expanded pharmacist roles in team-based care. Funded by a CDC block grant and authored by one of the state’s influential health agencies, the white paper features pharmacist-delivered comprehensive medication management (CMM) services in southern California as of May 2015.

Patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations may incorporate clinical pharmacy services, such as CMM. As the white paper points out, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to offer a CMM program, but CMM services are not currently reimbursed by most public or private third-party payers in the United States because pharmacists are not recognized as providers at the federal level. As a result, few avenues are available for pharmacists to receive payment for clinical services, noted the white paper’s authors, which include pharmacists, physicians, and a 2016 PharmD/MPH candidate.

I have a special appreciation for APhA’s relationships with the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations and our state pharmacy association execs, like Jon with the California Pharmacists Association. I’m grateful to the California Pharmacists Association for sharing their great work!

The white paper is worth a read and we are eager to put this policy piece to work on Capitol Hill with our partners in the Patient Access to Pharmacists’ Care Coalition. We applaud California, Ohio, and so many other states for their great work in our unified quest to help patients gain access to our services at the federal, state, and private payer levels.

We’re currently developing a story for the April issue of Pharmacy Today about the CDPH white paper. Check back here tomorrow for part 2 on my blog about expanding pharmacist roles in California!