Pharmacy's One Stop Program Raises Questions
When the Biden Administration announced that a one-stop test to treat program for COVID-19 would be implemented shortly, pharmacists were thrilled. Test to treat is finally here (at least for COVID), prescriptive authority should be coming soon!
It turns out that isn’t the case. What the one stop program outlines is this: in existing pharmacy clinics, where nurse practitioners and physicians practice, they can test and prescribe antivirals. No, this isn’t new, or really newsworthy.
This leaves a lot of pharmacists, and patients, out of the loop. Pharmacy is asking why the hesitation, and some medical lobbies are asking why is pharmacy involved at all?
“…the test to treat program ultimately is a program where pharmacies who also have a physician’s practice or a Minute Clinic, if you will, non-pharmacist practitioner inside that pharmacy, they can prescribe, like they normally do. And they can ultimately get that prescription filled upon a positive test and the government will make sure that those pharmacies are adequately stocked with that.” — David Pope.
Despite the AMA’s hesitation, pharmacy sees a one-stop plan as an opportunity to unite and collaborate for the best possible health outcomes.
“I hope that [the AMA] will revisit this statement and understand that it’s not about competition—it is about collaboration. And ultimately, we need to do our best to provide increased access in an equitable fashion to all patients.” — Christina Madison, PharmD, FCCP, AAHIVP, also known as The Public Health Pharmacist.
Read the full article on Pharmacy Times here.
