2021 Pinnacle Award Recipient: University of Pittsburgh, in collaboration with Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network, and Value Drug
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION-ASSOCIATION-PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy (PittPharmacy), in partnership with Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network, and Value Drug, share a deep commitment to serving the public through partnerships, education, and research.
In 2008, PittPharmacy set out to transform the way people receive care in their local community pharmacy. Their team members transformed individual pharmacy practices, but for viable, scalable and sustainable impact, they knew transformation was needed across a wide geography of communities. Widespread transformation could only be sustained where the community pharmacy business model included payment for high-quality patient care services. They set a goal to transform community pharmacy practices throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by building a statewide pharmacist practice network connecting pharmacists, payors, and health practitioners.
The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Network Development Task Force was created by Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) and chaired by Melissa McGivney, PharmD, from PittPharmacy. In 2015, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network (PPCN) was formally established as a business within PPA. In 2017, PPCN signed its first payor contract for patient care services. Together with their partners, CPESN USA, Value Drug, and STRAND Technologies, they built the interest, training, and partnerships necessary to recruit 170 community pharmacies into PPCN. Since 2017, their network expanded to include four health payor patient care contracts serving over 100,000 patients.
The ongoing cycle of learning the needs of patients, practitioners, payors and the community continued in 2018. Kim Coley, Joni Carroll, and Melissa McGivney (PittPharmacy) received a Eugene Washington Engagement Award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute entitled “A Statewide Community Pharmacy Research Network that Aligns Patients, Pharmacists & Researchers” to formally establish a research network affiliated with PPCN pharmacies and the patients they serve.
Additionally, the Academia-CPESN Transformation (ACT) Pharmacy Collaborative was established through the success of PPCN’s partnership with all colleges/schools of pharmacy in Pennsylvania. This collaborative now includes 93 schools/colleges of pharmacy across the country whose deans have committed to prioritizing and supporting community pharmacy practice transformation at their institutions. The time for community pharmacy practice transformation has never been more critical for patients or the profession. Community pharmacy practice is the front door to health in our communities. The Network is proud to share how their vision and commitment beginning over 13 years ago, has resulted in patients receiving care in their local communities from pharmacists who now have a business model to provide care on an ongoing basis. There is still more work to be done. Their collaborative team is committed to continuing to pursue practice advancement, payor collaborations, advocacy and research for years to come.