Addressing social determinants of health in community pharmacy: Innovative opportunities and practice models

COVID-19 pandemic: the role of community-based pharmacy practice in health equity

“…Screening for SDOH, specifically factors that can affect patient’s treatment outcomes, is increasingly important for healthcare providers and the healthcare system at large [ 10 , 11 ]. Community-based pharmacies and pharmacists are well-positioned to screen patients for various SDOH.…”

“…Clinical-based services provided through the community-based pharmacy could also be a step towards building trust with underserved communities. Collectively, clinical pharmacists are well-poised to promote optimal health and address community-specific needs to achieve health equity [ 10 , 22 ].…”

Expanding comprehensive medication management considerations to include responses to the social determinants of health within the BDHelping Build Healthy Communities Program

“…These efforts could also be financially supported by the emergence of Z‐codes to document reimbursable activities related to social, economic, and environmental determinants within the approved set of ICD‐10 codes. The utilization of Z codes to facilitate reimbursement of SDOH services, represents another underutilized reimbursement strategy that pharmacies can leverage to sustainably reimburse the growing portfolio of vital patient‐centered activities that pharmacies and clinic based pharmacists can offer 14,16,20‐22 . With recent reports suggesting that only 1.59% of Medicare beneficiaries had claims using Z‐codes, the incorporation of services related to the social determinants within the pharmacy workflow could fill an unmet patient need while also representing a potential source of revenue for pharmacy‐based providers serving patients with Medicare and Medicaid‐based insurance 14,16,22,23 .…”

“…The utilization of Z codes to facilitate reimbursement of SDOH services, represents another underutilized reimbursement strategy that pharmacies can leverage to sustainably reimburse the growing portfolio of vital patient-centered activities that pharmacies and clinic based pharmacists can offer. 14,16,[20][21][22] With recent reports suggesting that only 1.59% of Medicare beneficiaries had claims using Z-codes, the incorporation of services related to the social determinants within the pharmacy workflow could fill an unmet patient need while also representing a potential source of revenue for pharmacy-based providers serving patients with Medicare and Medicaid-based insurance. 14,16,22,23 These novel and underutilized reimbursement strategies combined with pending legislation, such as HR 2759, which seeks to development reimbursement structures for clinical pharmacists providing care in underserved areas, can help support the expansion and scale up of clinical pharmacist activities at FQHCs.…”

“…14,16,[20][21][22] With recent reports suggesting that only 1.59% of Medicare beneficiaries had claims using Z-codes, the incorporation of services related to the social determinants within the pharmacy workflow could fill an unmet patient need while also representing a potential source of revenue for pharmacy-based providers serving patients with Medicare and Medicaid-based insurance. 14,16,22,23 These novel and underutilized reimbursement strategies combined with pending legislation, such as HR 2759, which seeks to development reimbursement structures for clinical pharmacists providing care in underserved areas, can help support the expansion and scale up of clinical pharmacist activities at FQHCs. 24 As part of the commitment to promote lasting and more durable change, additional investments were made to structure the HBHC program to maximize the potential for demonstrable success in the short and long term as illustrated in Figure 1.…”