Advocacy

Colorado 2022 Legislative Session Tracking

CPS monitors and lobbies over a dozen bills every legislative session, dealing with issues such as pharmacy sunset, reimbursement, practice advancement, and increase access to pharmacist-provided services. 

Legislative Session Tracking

We all know that when pharmacists are on the team:

• Patients benefit —enhanced satisfaction, care, and outcomes
• Communities benefit — healthier population, increased access to immunizations
• The health care system benefits — quality, access, and costs are improved

To ensure that pharmacists are included on every patients’ healthcare team, pharmacists need to be included on the “list” of providers defined in Medicare Part B. To achieve this, the profession of pharmacy has come together to advocate for what we call “provider status.” Bills are currently active in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The profession of pharmacy has come together to work on this with a unified voice. And it’s not just pharmacists who know that ensuring patient access to pharmacists services is a priority. 

Sign on to the legislation:

Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act - ASHP 
or 
Provider Status for Pharmacists APhA APhA 

The Profession of Pharmacy, Working Together

The Patient Access to Pharmacists’ Care Coalition (PAPCC) is a multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary initiative. Membership is comprised of organizations representing patients, pharmacists, and pharmacies, as well as other interested stakeholders. Their mission is to develop and help enact a federal policy proposal that would enable Medicare beneficiary access to, and payment for, Medicare Part B services by state-licensed pharmacists in medically underserved communities. Their primary goal is to improve medically underserved seniors’ access to pharmacists’ services consistent with state scope of practice laws and regulations.

More Resources from APhA

Pharmacists Provide Care is APhA’s national advocacy campaign to achieve “provider status,” which will allow pharmacists to be recognized as health care providers under the law. Being recognized as health care providers is critical to creating and expanded job opportunities. Support our profession and join the Pharmacists Provide Care campaign today at pharmacistsprovidecare.com! This site also has numerous resources that can be used when discussing this initiative with Colorado Senators and Representatives.

More Resources from ASHP

The American Society of Health System Pharmacists has assembled a variety of resources that can be used for advocacy efforts. Check it out here.

Support for Provider Status

Developing Trends in Delivery and Reimbursement of Pharmacist Services
Avalere just released a white paper entitled,”Developing Trends in Delivery and Reimbursement of Pharmacist Services.”   The research was funded by NACDS.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER

NGA Support for the Expanding Role of Pharmacists
This paper by the National Governors Association highlights numerous states that have expanded pharmacists’ scope of practice, integrated pharmacists into chronic care delivery teams, and developed other team-based models of care that include pharmacists.

The paper includes policy considerations related collaborative practice provisions, provider recognition and compensation for pharmacist-delivered care services, and access to health IT systems.

DOWNLOAD THE PAPER

Improving Patient and Health System Outcomes through Advanced Pharmacy Practice
After decades of interprofessional collaboration and years of preparation, pharmacist leaders within the US Public Health Service (PHS) completed an evidence-based report entitled “Improving Patient and Health System Outcomes through Advanced Pharmacy Practice” in 20111 . For the first time ever, a report on pharmacy practice was presented to a U.S. Surgeon General. Our 18th U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, reviewed the report and issued a letter of support in January 2012. In conjunction with her support, six high-level physicians from across the country issued individual letters of support for expanded pharmacy practice.

Since their release to the public in January, the Report and Surgeon General’s support have already served as a call to action for the profession to transform pharmacy practice to better meet the needs of patients and the health care system. The Report provides evidence-based support for the importance of the pharmacist-delivered patient care, calls for the recognition of pharmacists as health care providers, and moves the discussion towards implementation of systems that support expanded pharmacy practice. Utilizing pharmacists to the maximum extent of their licensure and education to deliver patient care services is one of the most logical, evidence-based, successful, and time-tested strategies to improve outcomes. The endorsements by Dr. Benjamin and other high-level physicians provide the profession with excellent tools for advocacy and facilitate interprofessional discussions regarding the future of health care.

DOWNLOAD THE PAPER

If you are a member, please log-in to view the status of various bills CPS is following. 
If you are not currently a member, please consider joining today! 

Please contact us for additional information.