More than 100 million Americans lack access to primary care. Yet one of the most accessible health care professionals in America, the community pharmacist, is often prevented from providing the full range of care they’re trained to deliver. In this post, we explore the second pillar in PCMA’s Path to Patient Affordability – how modernizing primary care can help bridge that access gap. 

Pillar 2: Protect the viability of independent retail pharmacies by creating pathways for pharmacists to be paid for the clinical services they provide.

What if the health care professional you see most often could do even more to help keep you healthy?

Improving access to care doesn’t require creating something new. PBMs support modernizing pharmacy care by allowing community pharmacists to practice at the top of their training. This includes providing testing and screenings, managing medications, treating certain minor conditions, expanding tele-pharmacy services, and delivering clinical services while being appropriately reimbursed for the care they provide.

The Bottom Line: Patients shouldn’t have to wait weeks or get stuck in a maze of options for care that could be delivered by their community pharmacists. 

Our industry is advocating for policymakers to:

•  Enable pharmacists to perform advanced clinical roles
• Authorize tele-pharmacy operations
• Grant pharmacists “provider” status under Medicare Part B during a public health emergency

 Explore all six pillars of the Path to Patient Affordability HERE and download our one pagers that go deeper on each policy recommendation HERE.

Next up: What if lower-cost medicines could reach patients faster?