Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2015
Abstract
Community pharmacy-based provision of immunizations in the USA has become commonplace in the last few decades, with success in increasing rates of immunizations. Community pharmacy-based vaccination services are provided by pharmacists educated in the practice of immunization delivery and provide a convenient and accessible option for receiving immunizations. The pharmacist's role in immunization practice has been described as serving in the roles of educator, facilitator, and immunizer. With a majority of pharmacist-provided vaccinations occurring in the community pharmacy setting, there are many examples of community pharmacists serving in these immunization roles with successful outcomes. Different community pharmacies employ a number of different models and workflow practices that usually consist of a year-round in-house service staffed by their own immunizing pharmacist. Challenges that currently exist in this setting are variability in scopes of immunization practice for pharmacists across states, inconsistent reimbursement mechanisms, and barriers in technology. Many of these challenges can be alleviated by continual education; working with legislators, state boards of pharmacy, stakeholders, and payers to standardize laws; and reimbursement design. Other challenges that may need to be addressed are improvements in communication and continuity of care between community pharmacists and the patient centered medical home.
Recommended Citation
Bach A, Goad JA. The role of community pharmacy-based vaccination in the USA: Current practice and future directions. Integr Pharm Res Pract. 2015;2015(4):67-77. doi: 10.2147/IPRP.S63822
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Health and Medical Administration Commons, Influenza Virus Vaccines Commons, Other Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Pharmacy Administration, Policy and Regulation Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice, volume 2015, issue 4, in 2015. DOI:10.2147/IPRP.S63822