Abstract
The 2021-22 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Develop a resource guide for member institutions and faculty regarding payment for the practice-related activities of pharmacy faculty; (2) Nominate at least one person for an elected AACP or Council Office; and (3) Consider ways that AACP can improve its financial health. This report describes the methodology and content utilized for the development of an online resource guide for member institutions, faculty, and practice sites regarding the integration of clinical faculties’ patient care services into patient care settings, including models for payment and value-based payment structures that can be utilized to support the practice-related activities of faculty. The committee offers a revision to a current association policy statement, a proposed policy statement as well as recommendations to AACP and suggestions to colleges and schools of pharmacy pertaining to the committee charges.
- Clinical Pharmacist
- Patient Care Services
- Pharmacist Reimbursement
- Pharmacy Faculty
- Pharmacy Practice
- Pharmacy Practice Models
INTRODUCTION AND COMMITTEE CHARGES
According to the Bylaws of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the Professional Affairs Committee (PAC) is to study issues associated with the professional practice as they relate to pharmaceutical education, and to establish and improve working relationships with all other organizations in the field of health affairs. The Committee is also encouraged to address related agenda items relevant to its Bylaws charge and to identify issues for consideration by subsequent committees, task forces, commissions, or other groups.
AACP President Stuart Haines’s focus for the 2021-2022 AACP standing committees was centered on various priorities of the 2021-2024 AACP Strategic Plan.1 The 2021-22 Professional Affairs Committee is charged to:
Develop a resource guide for member institutions and faculty regarding payment for pharmacist services –particularly models for payment for the practice-related activities of faculty and the creation of model “practice plans” for faculty employed by colleges/schools of pharmacy. This work should be coordinated with the Strategic Engagement Committee.
Nominate at least one person for an elected AACP or Council Office.
After completion of the committee’s charges, consider ways that AACP can improve its financial health. Based on the committee’s work, are there any potential revenue generating or cost saving opportunities that the Association should consider?
Members of the 2021-22 PAC include faculty representing multiple disciplines from various colleges and schools of pharmacy and professional staff representation from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).
BACKGROUND
The PAC conducted its work via teleconference and other electronic modalities to address its charges. The first committee charge represented most of the work of the committee. The PAC chair and vice-chair had numerous collaborative calls with the 2021-22 Strategic Engagement Committee chair and vice-chair to ensure the work of the two committees were complementary and to avoid duplication. The two committees held a joint virtual meeting in September 2021 and February 2022 to keep one another appraised of their committee’s progress. The PAC addressed charges two and three by providing information to the applicable AACP staff members.
Table 1 provides a listing of the current AACP policy statements that pertain to the PAC charges. Based on the work of the PAC, the current policy statement that reads:
AACP Policy Statements Related to the 2021-2022 Professional Affairs Committee Charges
AACP supports the efforts of schools and colleges of pharmacy working with health entities to promote and advocate for the inclusion, reimbursement and sustainability of pharmacist services as a required element of patient-centered care in all settings. (Source: Professional Affairs Committee, 2011) and was revised and adopted by the 2022 House of Delegates to:
AACP strongly supports the work of colleges and schools of pharmacy with practice partners and payors to promote and advocate for the inclusion, reimbursement and sustainability of pharmacist services as a required element of patient-centered care in all settings, including mutually beneficial financial models between colleges/schools of pharmacy and practice partners.
This report describes the methodology and content utilized for the development of a resource guide for member institutions, faculty, and practice sites regarding the integration of clinical faculties’ patient care services into patient care settings, including models for payment and value-based payment structures that can be utilized to support the practice-related activities of faculty.
The Development of the Resource Guide Components and Content
The PAC spent considerable time discussing the content necessary for the resource guide and the method to provide the guide to AACP members and other stakeholders. The PAC developed the following purpose statement regarding the resource guide to direct their work:
The purpose of the resource guide is to provide guidance and empower school and practice site administrators as well as individual faculty practitioners to build sustainable practice models across various practice areas that achieve win-win opportunities for practice partners, curricular and teaching needs, and student learning. Examples and methods to communicate the unique value that clinical pharmacy faculty can bring to a practice site will be provided. Potential solutions for common challenges experienced by both faculty and practice site participants are available. This guide is offered as a reference to establish and re-establish partnerships that support mutual goals in education and practice as well as serve to advance careers and the practice of pharmacy.
The following subcommittees were formed to address the various components of the resource guide:
Culture and Needs Assessment: this component focuses on information that colleges and schools of pharmacy should consider internally when planning for pharmacy faculty to provide patient care services in external healthcare practice settings. This content will be most useful for college and school of pharmacy CEO Deans, Department Chairs, and Pharmacy Practice Faculty.
Payment Models and Practice Plan Models: this component focuses on current models of practice and payment that pharmacy faculty have when providing patient care services in external healthcare practice settings. This information includes considerations regarding contracts/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). The applicable stakeholder groups for this content include colleges and schools of pharmacy (including CEO Deans, Department Chairs, and Clinical Faculty Member) and the healthcare practice site (including the C-Suite/Site Coordinators/Administrators and additional healthcare providers, including other pharmacists).
Value Proposition: this component focuses on the various rationales to consider when pharmacy faculty provide patient care services in external healthcare practice settings. The applicable stakeholder groups for this content include colleges and schools of pharmacy (including CEO Deans, Department Chairs, Pharmacy Practice Faculty, and trainees (e.g., Student Pharmacists, Pharmacy Residents) and the healthcare practice site (including the C-Suite/Site Coordinators/Administrators and additional healthcare providers, including other pharmacists). These stakeholders and the influence of pharmacists being integrated into patient care settings has been a focus of the professional affairs committees for the previous two years.2,3
The PAC was committed to providing the necessary information for each component in a succinct manner while also providing access to additional materials and references for those who desire to learn more. Each subcommittee worked to determine the content that would provide the most benefit for the targeted stakeholder groups. A detailed spreadsheet was created for each subcommittee to provide their content based on its category along with a short accompanying description/narrative, applicable websites/references, and indication of applicable stakeholder group(s). This exercise allowed any duplicate content area(s) to be detected as well as determine the most efficient method to disseminate the final resource guide.
Each component within the resource guide contains content germane to its area. Table 2 provides an overview of the content provided for each resource guide component area.
Resource Guide for the Integration of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty in Practice Care Settings Components and Content
Resource Guide Accessibility
The PAC met as a whole committee several times to discuss the best method for dissemination of the resource guide. The guide was envisioned to be widely accessible, easily updated, and individualized to various stakeholders. As a result, an online format was chosen for this purpose.
The PAC worked with AACP staff to develop the optimal format for the end-user for the online resource guide. The resource guide will be available to members and other interested stakeholders. Users of the resource guide will be able to access the content by the type of stakeholder or component area. The webpage for the online resource guide can be found at https://www.aacp.org/resource/integration-clinical-pharmacy-faculty-professional-practice-care-settings.
As the subcommittees and full committee worked on the development of the resource guide, there was one proposed policy statement, three recommendations, and two suggestions generated:
Adopted Policy Statement: AACP encourages colleges and schools of pharmacy to collaborate with individual faculty members and practice partners to develop sustainable faculty models that include transparent reimbursement agreements and clearly written expectations.
Recommendation 1: AACP should revisit and revise (if needed) the Resource Guide for the Integration of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty in Professional Practice Settings a minimum of once a year to ensure that the information is relevant for colleges and schools of pharmacy.
Recommendation 2: The AACP Transformation Center should develop a methodology and plan to continuously capture and promote the pharmacy practice reimbursement models that colleges and schools of pharmacy have with external practice partners/organizations.
Recommendation 3: AACP should conduct an annual session (e.g., Annual Meeting, Institute) for members related to pharmacy faculty integration in patient care sites.
Suggestion 1: Colleges and schools of pharmacy must address and document in writing, on at least an annual basis, the responsibilities for individual faculty members providing clinical services in collaboration with practice partners.
Suggestion 2: Colleges and schools of pharmacy should strive to obtain reimbursement or institute a sustainable financial model for individual faculty members providing clinical services in collaboration with practice partners.
CONCLUSION AND CALL TO ACTION
Colleges and schools of pharmacy have answered the call to provide students with rich interprofessional experiences by embedding clinical practice faculty in a variety of clinical settings; allowing pharmacy students to work side by side with their interprofessional colleagues to improve patient care. Strong and clear collaborative agreements with clinical sites that are beneficial to both partners should be established. These agreements should recognize the value of and reimbursement for the clinical pharmacist services. In this way, the agreements demonstrate to students not only the interprofessional work but also methods to sustain and grow such pharmacist work. Using the resources available in this guide and by networking with others who have encountered similar challenges, colleges and schools of pharmacy should carefully evaluate the opportunities in their communities for partnerships, consider a variety of methods to ensure financial and faculty sustainability; and develop a process for continual evaluation and assessment of such agreements.
PROPOSED POLICY STATEMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS
Proposed Policy Statement Revision: AACP supports the efforts of schools and colleges of pharmacy working with health entities to promote and advocate for the inclusion, reimbursement and sustainability of pharmacist services as a required element of patient-centered care in all settings. (Source: Professional Affairs Committee, 2011) was proposed and revised by the 2022 House of Delegates to:AACP strongly supports the work of colleges and schools of pharmacy with practice partners and payors to promote and advocate for the inclusion, reimbursement and sustainability of pharmacist services as a required element of patient-centered care in all settings, including mutually beneficial financial models between colleges and schools of pharmacy and practice partners.
Policy Statement (adopted by the 2022 AACP House of Delegates): AACP encourages colleges and schools of pharmacy to collaborate with individual faculty members and practice partners to develop sustainable faculty models that include transparent reimbursement agreements and clearly written expectations.
Recommendation 1: AACP should revisit and revise (if needed) the Resource Guide for the Integration of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty in Professional Practice Care Settings a minimum of once a year to ensure that the information is relevant for colleges and schools of pharmacy.
Recommendation 2: The AACP Transformation Center should develop a methodology and plan to continuously capture and promote the pharmacy practice reimbursement models that colleges and schools of pharmacy have with external practice partners/organizations.
Recommendation 3: AACP should conduct an annual session (e.g., Annual Meeting, Institute) for members related to pharmacy faculty integration in patient care sites.
Suggestion 1: Colleges and schools of pharmacy must address and document in writing, on at least an annual basis, the responsibilities for individual faculty members providing clinical services in collaboration with practice partners.
Suggestion 2: Colleges and schools of pharmacy should strive to obtain reimbursement or institute a sustainable financial model for individual faculty members providing clinical services in collaboration with practice partners.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Sean Clark, AACP Associate Director of Web Strategy for his recommendations and assistance with formatting and stylizing the committee’s online resource guide.
- © 2022 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
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