Objective: To identify the steps to implement a community pharmacist into a family medicine practice to deliver Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs).
Setting: Medicine Mart Pharmacy is a locally owned and operated pharmacy that has served the West Columbia, SC, area for over 30 years. The services offered by the pharmacy have expanded over the past 3 years through the addition of a community pharmacy resident.
Practice innovation: A stepwise approach was developed for a community pharmacist to identify, market, and establish an AWV service through a collaborative practice agreement with a local family medicine practice.
Evaluation: The pharmacy team contacted each office and obtained information about the physician practices and their willingness to participate in the program. Two financial models were created and evaluated to determine budget implications.
Results: Many patients were seen at the physician offices; they were eligible for AWV, but had not received them. Meetings were scheduled with 3 of the 6 offices; however, none of the offices moved forward with the proposed program.
Conclusion: Integrating a pharmacist into the AWV role may be profitable to both the pharmacy and the medical office with persistence and time to have a successful collaboration.
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