The Effect of Community Pharmacy Technicians on Industry Standard Adherence Performance Measures After Cognitive Pharmaceutical Services Training

Abstract

Background: Cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS) provided by pharmacists can improve patient adherence and industry standard performance measures. Community pharmacy technicians can aid in CPS support tasks on training, but it is unknown to what extent. Objective: To determine the effect of community pharmacy technicians on industry standard adherence performance measures after CPS training. Methods: Sixteen community pharmacy technicians within a supermarket chain division were chosen to participate in CPS training based on internal pharmacy benchmarking data. The training program consisted of 3 components: (1) classroom and (2) web-based training for medication therapy management platforms and (3) Hands-on in-pharmacy training. Researchers used pharmacy-specific EQuIPP reports of the proportion of days covered (PDC) for adherence related to diabetes, cholesterol, and hypertension to measure the primary outcome. September through October 2015 represented baseline data. November 2015 through March 2016 represented intervention data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized for this retrospective analysis. The University of Tennessee Institutional Review Board classified the study exempt from review. Results: Overall, 100% of Cholesterol PDC 4-Star sites improved to a 5-Star score and 56% of sites improved in the Diabetes PDC score. All sites maintained a 5-Star score for RASA PDC postintervention. An average increase of 2.36% was observed for Cholesterol PDC across all sites. Possible lag time between the intervention and score improvements may limit relatability of results. Conclusions: This is the first study to report a positive trend between technician involvement in CPS and improvement in industry standard adherence performance measures. Further research capturing a longer time frame may be beneficial.

What predicts medication therapy management completion rates? The role of community pharmacy staff characteristics and beliefs about medication therapy management

“…10 Five of the six measures for the 2016 Part D Drug Safety and Accuracy of Drug Pricing domain can be directly influenced by MTM, including use of high-risk medications, adherence to medications indicated for hypertension and diabetes management, and CMR completion rates. 11 In 2015, Justis et al 12 studied the effect of trained pharmacy technicians on pharmacy adherence Star measures. 12 Although results showed a positive trend between technician involvement in MTM and improvement in adherence Star measures (only hypertension adherence measure was significant), MTM CMR completion rates were not taken into account as it was not a Star measure in 2015.…”

“…11 In 2015, Justis et al 12 studied the effect of trained pharmacy technicians on pharmacy adherence Star measures. 12 Although results showed a positive trend between technician involvement in MTM and improvement in adherence Star measures (only hypertension adherence measure was significant), MTM CMR completion rates were not taken into account as it was not a Star measure in 2015. 12 MTM CMR completion rates were added as a Star measure in 2016.…”

Best practices: Incorporating pharmacy technicians and other support personnel into the clinical pharmacist's process of care

“…Support personnel can also collect information for population health initiatives. This includes using a set of criteria that tracks adherence to care standards, which subsequently helps identify high-risk patients who might benefit from pharmacy services, 33,43,73,74 and collecting designated laboratory data for pharmacist review. 48,72,74 Other population health initiatives include reviewing adherence data and quality measure performance.…”

Exploring Pharmacy Technician Roles in the Implementation of an Appointment-Based Medication Synchronization Program

“…Establishing the role of the technician in ABMS services is critical as pharmacist-extender involvement in clinical service delivery is associated with a service implementation success, for frequent and diverse clinical service offerings, and improved quality of work life for both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, integration of technicians into advanced or clinical support roles can prove challenging [21,[24][25][26]. Understanding their unique perspectives on these new roles can be instrumental in designing training programs and assisting pharmacy leadership in the selection of technicians for these advanced roles [27].…”