In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many industries, including pharmacy, rapidly expanded the use of telecommuting workers to assure business continuity and address social distancing needs. Advances in electronic health records and telepharmacy over the past 2 decades enabled pharmacy leaders to easily adapt their practice models to allow for telecommuting alternatives during the pandemic. While these changes were generally intended to be part of the short-term response, the sustained expansion of telecommuting within the pharmacy profession merits further exploration. Documented experience with telepharmacy and telehealth indicate a wide array of clinical and operational pharmacist activities that could be conducted by telecommuters. In addition, experience with telecommuters in other industries suggests potential benefits ranging from improving pharmacists' work-life balance to mitigating postpandemic financial burden. Health care organizations should consider integrating part-time telecommuter pharmacists into contemporary practice models to address other frontline issues and facilitate ongoing expansion of clinical pharmacy services to meet emerging patient needs.
The American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) endorses comprehensive medication management (CMM) as an essential element of team‐based care and advocates CMM inclusion in value‐based health care reform. Remote delivery of CMM through telehealth platforms is expanding and has the potential to become one of the most common clinical pharmacy services. Building on a previous ACCP publication, “Providing Comprehensive Medication Management in Telehealth,” the 2019 ACCP Clinical Practice Affairs A Committee provides insights and guidance on developing, implementing, evaluating, and improving CMM telehealth practices in this white paper.
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