Pharmacist-provided services: Barriers to demonstrating value

Objectives

To describe barriers faced by community pharmacists and recommend strategies to demonstrate the value of community-based pharmacy services.

Data sources

Not applicable.

Summary

Progress toward the Triple Aim and value-based programs increases opportunities for pharmacists to provide value within the health care system. However, community pharmacists continue to face many barriers to showing their value. A lack of provider status prevents independent billing for services and perpetuates an inability to provide care. Traditional documentation tools focus on dispensing and restrict bidirectional communication and interoperability with other electronic medical records. Finally, a lack of robust quality improvement and research infrastructure limits pharmacists’ ability to contribute to evidence demonstrating their value.

Conclusion

Barriers to demonstrating the value of pharmacist-provided services can be overcome through ongoing efforts for pharmacist provider status, use of the Pharmacist eCare Plan, and greater quality improvement and research infrastructure in community pharmacies.