Provision of Patient Care Services and Goals for Expansion in Community and Ambulatory Care Pharmacies in Southeastern North Carolina

Abstract

In February 2022, the North Carolina legislature expanded pharmacist dispensing authority without a prescription. We conducted a cross-sectional interview of currently licensed pharmacy managers of outpatient pharmacies located in five counties in southeastern North Carolina. Pharmacy managers were eligible to participate if their pharmacy was either a community pharmacy, clinic-based pharmacy, or outpatient health system pharmacy. Forty-four of 116 eligible pharmacy managers participated (38% response rate). The most common services offered by pharmacies included medication synchronization services (93.2%), on-site immunizations (90.9%), and refill reminders (88.6%). The least common services offered include INR screens (0%), A1c screens (7%), and ‘incident-to’ billing services associated with CPT codes: annual wellness visits (0%), chronic care management (0%), transitional care management (0%), and remote patient monitoring (2.4%). The services that pharmacy managers wanted to learn more about through continuing education included: oral/transdermal contraceptives (60.5%), administration of long-acting injectables (LAIs) (36.8%), and dispensing of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) (23.7%).