WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the CDC are partnering with selected communities of practice (CoPs) as part of the Advancing Health Equity through Pharmacy-Based Strategies to Advance Health Care, Pharmacists Patient Care Services and Support Services project. ) We are proud to announce our team. Equitably preventing heart disease and stroke in the United States.

Teams from state and local health departments, state boards of pharmacy, professional organizations, colleges of pharmacy, pharmacy practice facilities, and community-based organizations were invited to submit applications for consideration. After a competitive application and evaluation process, six teams were selected to participate in the project based on composition, qualifications, and commitment to cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention.

• A collaboration between the California Department of Public Health, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, the University of Southern California Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and School of Pharmacy, the California Pharmacists Association, and the American Heart Association has helped scale up value-based care. Comprehensive medication management services through community-based pharmacies for patients experiencing health disparities in cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention. This includes certification of pharmacy technicians as community health workers.
• To address health disparities across the state, the Minnesota Department of Health and Hennepin Healthcare, a hospital safety net system, partnered to provide pharmacist-led medication management services to improve hypertension management.
• A partnership between the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Mississippi Community Pharmacy Enhancement Services Network (CPESN), and the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy to screen for social determinants of health, identify at-risk patients, and improve pharmacy-based community health workers. train. Connect these patients to cardiovascular health resources.
• Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services partners with Bitterroot Drug and Thrifty Drug to advance social determinant recruitment of health screeners in community-based pharmacies to improve referrals of patients with cardiovascular disease to community resources To do.
• The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and St. John’s University School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences are partners with Allure Specialty Pharmacy, Burke Avenue Pharmacy, Felicity Pharmacy, and Marble Hill Pharmacy. These pharmacies serve patients with high rates of poverty and chronic disease. The team works with CDC-trained Healthy Heart Ambassadors to improve patients’ hypertension control through medication management and lifestyle modifications.
• The Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Pharmacist Care Network, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy aim to leverage their long history of collaboration to expand access to patient care services powered by community pharmacies. Their multifaceted approach trains pharmacy technicians to serve as community health workers, further integrate social determinants of health exams to identify and address gaps impacting cardiovascular disease, and Strengthen collaboration between community pharmacists and physicians and explore remote patient monitoring.

Selected CoP teams will accelerate the implementation of pharmacy-based strategies to advance health equity through efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities in CVD risk factors, prevalence, or outcomes. Masu. Participants will engage in virtual learning sessions and peer-to-peer learning opportunities with other CoP teams to build capacity for health departments and pharmacy partners to implement promising program models in their communities.

“We are thrilled to partner with APhA,” said Michael D. Hogue, PharmD, FAPhA, FNAP, FFIP, Executive Vice President and CEO of APhA. We are adopting economic sustainability as part of our model to address CVD, as the CoP team optimizes public health and pharmacy partnerships to respond to community needs. Excited to see the model. ”

Janet Wright, MD, FPCNA, CDC Director of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, MACC, commented: “Public health is the epitome of a team sport, and pharmacists are critical members of this dynamic team. To prevent and manage heart disease and stroke, address health disparities in our communities, and advance health equity, we must Collaboration across public health and clinical sectors is key. We are pleased to support this joint effort and look forward to celebrating the achievements these teams achieve in cardiovascular health and care.

This project was funded in part by a contract project agreement with CDC, an agency of HHS.

Contact: media@aphanet.org