Madeleine Arvold is a second year industrial-organizational psychology master's student at Seattle Pacific University. Madeleine is interested in organizational and team cultures, and particularly on the effects of those cultures on the attraction and retention of women in the technology industry. Mr. Steven David Mow, Seattle Pacific UniversitySteven D. Mow is and Industrial-Organizational Psychology M.A. student at Seattle Pacific University. He has four years of formal leadership and team development experience which he uses to influence and enrich his involvement with various training and development research based projects purposed to build effective and impactful teams and leaders.Mr. Zachary W Cook, Seattle Pacific University Zachary W. Cook is a master's student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University. He is passionate about developing people, and utilizing research based practices in this endeavor.Natalie Goode, Seattle Pacific University Natalie Goode is a Master's student at Seattle Pacific University studying Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Mrs. Caitlin H. Wasilewski, Seattle Pacific UniversityCaitlin H. Wasilewski is an Industrial-Organizational Psychology PhD student at Seattle Pacific University. During her graduate studies she has been involved in several research projects investigating students, faculty, and graduates of STEM disciplines with the goal of improving engagement and retention in these populations.Mr. Rida Y Al-Hawaj, Seattle Pacific University Rida Al-Hawaj is a master's student at Seattle Pacific University. He is majored in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. He received his B.S in psychology from Portland State University. He got interested in the topic of "Educating Engineering Students on Effective Team Skills" because he started his academic journey by majoring in electrical engineering and faced many problems in teams because of the lack of team skills. In his spare time, he enjoys doing photography and learning new things. You can reach him at: alhawajr@spu.edu Dr. Melani Plett, Seattle Pacific UniversityProf. Melani Plett is a Professor in Electrical Engineering at Seattle Pacific University. She has over seventeen years of experience in teaching a variety of engineering undergraduate students (freshman through senior) and has participated in several engineering education research projects, with a focus how faculty can best facilitate student learning. The ability to communicate and work effectively on a team has increased in importance in the field of engineering as the demands of business and industry have evolved 1 . Engineers today report that communication is critical to their success and spend a large percentage of time interacting with others 1 and working on teams 2 . Despite the need for interaction in practice, industry reports indicate engineering graduates show skill deficiencies in communication and teamwork 3 . Due to the importance of these skills, many encourage their integration into the engineering classroom, suggestin...

Introduction Prescription prior authorization (PA) and prohibitive out‐of‐pocket costs are encountered across all specialties of care. These barriers are burdensome for prescribers and patients due to the multiple steps required to gain approval for payer reimbursement for medications. Objectives The primary objective was to characterize clinical pharmacist impact on medication appeals and high cost resolution. Methods This was a retrospective review of medication access intervention data collected from January 1, 2021, through July 31, 2021, at an academic medical center where five clinical pharmacists are embedded across 11 specialty and family medicine clinics. Intervention data was documented for both specialty and nonspecialty prescriptions. The primary end point quantified and characterized interventions based on access issues, defined as insurance denial or high out‐of‐pocket cost. Additional end points included time to appeal determination, total time spent on appeal activities, the incidence of denials, duration of the interruption, and assistance dollars secured for cost‐related barriers. Results Over the 7‐mo period, there were 531 prescriptions identified for clinical pharmacist access intervention. Of the total interventions collected, 42% (n = 221) were appeals for insurance denials and 58% (n = 310) addressed high out‐of‐pocket cost. The approval rate of appeals was 94% (n = 208). The majority of appeals (89%) were submitted within 3 d. The median time to appeal determination was five calendar days. The estimated time spent on appeal activities by the clinical pharmacists was 6.8 work wk. There were 51 patients of therapy interruption. The total assistance dollars secured for high out‐of‐pocket costs reached an estimated $1 953 200 over the report period.ConclusionThis report characterizes an approach to effectively manage medication appeals and cost resolution through embedded clinical pharmacists. Leveraging embedded pharmacists' clinical knowledge and familiarity with payer processes in medication appeals achieved a 94% approval rate. The current payer process places a burden disproportionately on prescribers and patients, delaying or preventing medication access.