Leveraging Partnerships Among Community Pharmacists, Pharmacies, and Health Departments to Improve Pandemic Influenza Response

Abstract

Response to public health emergencies requires coordination across multiple sectors and effective use of existing resources in communities. With the expanded role of community pharmacists in public health during the past decade, their participation in response to emergencies has become increasingly important. Local health departments play a lead role in local public health emergency responses, and their ability to develop and leverage partnerships has become increasingly vital given their funding and personnel shortages. This article offers insight and recommendations on how local health departments can most effectively develop and maintain relationships with community pharmacies and pharmacists that will allow for a more coordinated and resourceful public health response to emergencies, and specifically to pandemic influenza outbreaks. Additionally, state and local health departments should reach out to pharmacies in a synchronized way to incorporate them into their pandemic influenza planning and response efforts. As pharmacists continue to expand their role as part of the public health system, pharmacy staff can be active participants with public health agencies to improve community public health emergency response.

COVID-19: Needs assessment of the pharmacy profession and contributions so far across the Commonwealth

“…This was however reassuring as most respondents were able to identify some level of involvement of pharmacy as part of a COVID-19 response. These ndings are in line with the literature available on the role of pharmacy in managing health crises, which highlight the key bene ts of partnerships between the pharmacy sector and government bodies in ensuring an optimal pandemic response [20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…Respondents identi ed a need to up skill to better respond to the pandemic; they felt this would be best achieved through webinars on COVID-19, access to a community of support to share questions and concerns, and being signposted to information among other suggestions. This resonates with a recent survey in India where pharmacy professionals expressed willingness to be trained and better equipped for COVID-19 and other health emergencies which could occur in the near future [20]. Based on these ndings, the CPA rapidly developed a number of activities to support pharmacy professionals across the Commonwealth.…”

Optimizing Distribution of Pandemic Influenza Antiviral Drugs

“…Many states plan to enlist commercial pharmacies in the dispensing of SNS antiviral drugs during future influenza pandemics ( 20 – 22 , 34 ). We have developed and demonstrated a simple, extensible, facility-location model for designing pharmacy-based antiviral drug distribution networks that effectively reach target populations.…”

Antimicrobial Stewardship in Outpatient Settings: Leveraging Innovative Physician-Pharmacist Collaborations to Reduce Antibiotic Resistance

“…Rubin and colleagues described the difficulty physicians and pharmacists had in trying to rewrite and implement CPAs in real-time in New York, pursuant to a gubernatorial executive order during Hurricane Sandy. 23 Second, CLIAwaived, point-of-care tests for influenza and GAS have been approved with the intent of providing guidance to clinicians in making appropriate treatment decisions. These tests can be incorporated in collaborative disease management programs to help optimize the appropriate use of antibiotics and antivirals.…”