Community Pharmacy Practice Has Reached Critical Clinical Juncture

The COVID-19 crisis changed the landscape of US community pharmacy practice. Pharmacies were central to providing critically needed vaccines to the US population.¹ These clinical efforts have changed the landscape of primary care services for many citizens as they have realized the importance of pharmacists to their health care. To this end, big retail is shifting, albeit slowly and deliberately, to primary health care delivery.

Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Best Buy have opened new clinics scattered around the United States.^2-4 These clinics are intended to provide a pharmacy-based footprint in primary care. Built into retail giants’ mainstay business is providing food and over-the-counter medical supplies, health care and medication information, and remote health monitoring devices, delivering a one-stop health care experience. This may be very important with the changing environment happening across the world.

There are 2 interesting unique additions to the retailer’s toolbox of clinical services. The first is persons who match a criterion-based protocol for obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m²) will be able to access a 12-week program that includes consultation-tailored diets and exercise through all 11,000 pharmacies in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the National Health Service.⁵ The program has more than 50,000 referrals. Black and Asian individuals can sign up for the program with BMIs > 27.5 kg/m² due to a greater risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Each pharmacy has a trained “healthy living champion.”

The second unique area is participation in clinical trial delivery. Decentralized clinical trials have a variety of delivery channels to reduce complexity, completion times, patient burdens, and costs.⁶ Retail pharmacies offer several advantages over traditional academic settings. They have access to potentially much larger participant numbers. They have the advantage of closer access for participants. A recent study found that 67% of consumers were more likely to participate in a clinical trial of COVID-19 treatment if travel were reduced.⁶ In community pharmacies with a clinic, many of the clinical trial procedures could be accomplished at the pharmacy-clinic. Finally, the cost of conducting clinical trials could be reduced.

What makes all of this so intriguing, bringing us to this critical clinical juncture, is these procedures are all reimbursable. These procedures will allow a changing business hybrid model of dispensing with clinical procedures. Let us provide the impetus to push us over this moment in time.

References:

1. Pharmacies participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/retail-pharmacy-program/participating-pharmacies.html
2. Bodwin E. ‘The beginning of a long journey’: a progress report on big retail’s ambition in health care. Stat. November 4, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.statnews.com/2021/11/04/walmart-best-buy-health-tech-retail/
3. Devereaux M. CVS to close 900 stores in big retail strategy shift. Modern Healthcare. November 18, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.modernhealthcare.com/providers/cvs-close-900-stores-big-retail-strategy-shift
4. Tepper N. CVS to provide mental healthcare in retail stores, advancing vertical integration. Modern Healthcare. May 3, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.modernhealthcare.com/care-delivery/cvs-provide-mental-healthcare-retail-stores
5. Obesity: pharmacies to offer NHS weight-loss scheme without referral from GP. Sky News. January 22, 2022. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://news.sky.com/story/obesity-pharmacies-to-offer-nhs-weight-loss-scheme-without-referral-from-gp-12522380
6. How retailers are disrupting the clinical trial delivery model. PWC. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/health-industries/library/retailer-disruption-decentralized-clinical-trials.html