Pharmacists Are Not Mid-Level Providers

Pharmacists should not be classified as “mid-level” providers. This classification implies that there are different levels or a hierarchy of providers when in fact each health care provider brings unique and essential knowledge and contributions to the health care team and to the care of patients. Pharmacists are no exception. Timely issues germane to pharmacists, including dependent and independent practice, provider status, and professional identity, contribute to the rationale that pharmacists, just like all other health care providers, should be classified by their professional identity. While use of the term mid-level provider to identify various practitioners may not seem consequential, in today’s health care environment, words do matter when it comes to attributing value, and the contributions of all health care providers should be recognized as equally important to the patient care team

Report of the 2020-2021 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: Pharmacists Unique Role and Integration in Healthcare Settings

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020-21 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Read all six reports from the 2019-20 AACP standing committees to identify elements of these reports that are relevant to the committee’s work this year; (2) Identify opportunities and models of integration of pharmacist care services in physician and other health provider practices beyond primary care; (3) Differentiate and make the case for the integration of pharmacist care services from that of other mid-level providers; and (4) From the work on the aforementioned charges, identify salient activities for the Center To Accelerate Pharmacy Practice Transformation and Academic Innovation (CTAP) for consideration by the AACP Strategic Planning Committee and AACP staff. This report provides information on the committee’s process to address the committee charges, describes the rationale for and the results from a call to colleges and schools of pharmacy to provide information on their integrating pharmacist care services in physician and other health provider practices beyond primary care practice, and discusses how pharmacist-provided patient care services differ from those provided by other healthcare providers. The committee offers a revision to a current association policy statement, a proposed policy statement as well as recommendations to CTAP and AACP and suggestions to colleges and schools of pharmacy pertaining to the committee charges

Usage and Recommendations Regarding Experiential Webpage on AACP Website: Results of Task Force Survey

Objectives: To determine current usage of and recommendations from experiential administrators regarding the AACP Experiential Education Section (EES) webpage. Method: The 10-question survey was piloted, peer-reviewed, and edited prior to administration. Experiential Administrators were emailed a link to a web-based questionnaire. Reminders were sent throughout the 3-week collection period during late fall 2014. Results: 242 responses were received. Usage: Over 61% have never accessed the EES website. When asked why, 64% did not know it existed, 55% were not sure what information was on it, and 28% did not know where to find it. Of those that had accessed it, 3.7 times was the mean number of times they accessed it and one-third accessed it 2 times (mode). Recommendations: Information respondents thought would be useful that is not currently on the website: preceptor development opportunities (83%), experiential literature publication or links (68%), listserv topics and contacts (50%), quality assurance information (50%), discussion board (42%), and membership list in excel or access (36%). Complete results including differences in responses found based on number of years in experiential will be presented. Implications: Quality experiential education and training are important to develop competent pharmacy professionals. Experiential Education faces daily challenges trying to meet these responsibilities, therefore; having tools and resources to help support these endeavors are important. The information obtained through this survey will be relayed back to Section leadership, as well as recommended changes to better match the needs of experiential administrators. Emphasis will be placed on increasing awareness and access of the webpage

Usage and Recommendations Regarding Experiential Webpage on AACP Website: Results of Task Force Survey

Objectives: To determine current usage of and recommendations from experiential administrators regarding the AACP Experiential Education Section (EES) webpage. Method: The 10-question survey was piloted, peer-reviewed, and edited prior to administration. Experiential Administrators were emailed a link to a web-based questionnaire. Reminders were sent throughout the 3-week collection period during late fall 2014. Results: 242 responses were received. Usage: Over 61% have never accessed the EES website. When asked why, 64% did not know it existed, 55% were not sure what information was on it, and 28% did not know where to find it. Of those that had accessed it, 3.7 times was the mean number of times they accessed it and one-third accessed it 2 times (mode). Recommendations: Information respondents thought would be useful that is not currently on the website: preceptor development opportunities (83%), experiential literature publication or links (68%), listserv topics and contacts (50%), quality assurance information (50%), discussion board (42%), and membership list in excel or access (36%). Complete results including differences in responses found based on number of years in experiential will be presented. Implications: Quality experiential education and training are important to develop competent pharmacy professionals. Experiential Education faces daily challenges trying to meet these responsibilities, therefore; having tools and resources to help support these endeavors are important. The information obtained through this survey will be relayed back to Section leadership, as well as recommended changes to better match the needs of experiential administrators. Emphasis will be placed on increasing awareness and access of the webpage