Statement from the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association 
 
Every pharmacist takes the Oath of a Pharmacist that encompasses the vows of service to the profession of pharmacy and patients. 

Ensuring the safety of patients is the utmost priority for every pharmacist and pharmacy technician working in any pharmacy setting.  However, when outside demands interfere with this priority, tensions arise. 

Over the past few years, pharmacists have been under extreme challenges in dealing with pandemic demands (COVID vaccines) national medication shortages, and significantly decreasing insurance reimbursements from Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM).

One of the vows in The Oath of Pharmacist is that “I will embrace and advocate changes that impact patient care.”  When pharmacists feel they are not supported in their workplace and patient care is at risk, they must voice their concerns. 

The latest American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Report highlights that inadequate staffing, unreasonable metrics, and harassment by patients continue to plague pharmacists and pharmacy staff across the country; similar findings to the well-being reports for physicians and nurses.

In support of pharmacist and pharmacy technicians, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) has adopted the APhA 2023 Workplace Conditions Policy which:

• calls for employers to provide fair, realistic, and equitable workplace conditions for pharmacy personnel that promote a safe, healthy, and sustainable working environment;
• urges all entities that impact pharmacy personnel workplace conditions to adopt the Pharmacist’s Fundamental Responsibilities and Rights;
• urges employers to develop and empower pharmacy personnel to use flexible practice management models based on available staffing, expertise, and resources that balance workloads to minimize distractions;
• advocates for employers to provide workplace onboarding and training for pharmacy personnel to optimize employee performance and satisfaction;
• encourages pharmacy personnel, starting with leaders, to model and facilitate individualized healthy working behaviors that improve well-being and to encourage and empower colleagues to do the same;
• opposes the sole use of productivity and fiscal measures for employee performance evaluations; and
• calls for employers and employees to collaborate in the development and use of behavioral performance competencies in performance evaluations.

As the statewide association and voice for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the Commonwealth, PPA advocates for safe and healthy environments for all pharmacy workers in all practice settings.  This also means that pharmacists are supported and remunerated for the vital services that they provide to their patients and communities that go beyond dispensing medication.  

PPA supports the daily work of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as they strive to provide the best pharmacy services to patients across the Commonwealth. PPA is passionate about ensuring that the services provided by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are respected and valued as essential health care providers in the health care system. To support this notion, PPA has committed to:

• Working with members of the Pennsylvania Community Pharmacy Caucus to introduce legislation that will hold PBMs accountable for transparent and fair payment of pharmacist’s drug acquisition and service costs;
• Collaborating with PA Medicaid to add pharmacists as other licensed providers to the Medicaid benefit; and 

• Establishing a workgroup of stakeholders including employers, members, and the state’s seven colleges of pharmacy that will formulate pathways for PPA’s role in building a sustainable and healthy workforce for Pennsylvania.

In addition, through the PPA owned Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network, pharmacies are provided opportunities to join payer programs that pay pharmacists for patient facing services beyond the dispending of a medication. Examples of these services include Immunizations, Tobacco Cessation Counseling, COVID-19 Vaccine Home Visits, Comprehensive Medication Reviews and Disease State Management & Education.

For additional information on any of these efforts or programs, please contact the PPA at ppa@papharmacists.com. 

We invite our constituents and others seeking support to also take advantage of these resources.

Additional Information and Resources: 

• Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Reporting portal – Recent published reports are available here. The PWWR is a safe, confidential, and anonymous avenue for pharmacy personnel to report positive and negative workplace experiences developed by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) and the APhA. We encourage all pharmacists and pharmacy staff to complete this confidential and anonymous survey to be used to drive lasting change in our industry. 
  
  
• Well-being Index – A tool designed to be used on a regular basis by pharmacy professionals – this collective knowledge assesses the pulse of a workforce stretched to their limits and encourages action from stakeholders based on those results. We encourage all pharmacy staff to engage for their own sake. 
  
  
• PA Professional Health Monitoring Program – conducted through the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA), the PHMP provides a method by which professionals suffering from a mental or physical disorder, such as a substance use disorder, may be directed to appropriate treatment, and receive monitoring to ensure that they can safely practice their licensed profession.  
  
  
• Physicians Health Program – an independent, non-profit peer assistance organization within the Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society which provides pharmacists, pharmacy students, and other eligible healthcare professionals a connection to services. In addition to accepting self-referrals and working with individuals, the PAPHP works closely with Pennsylvania pharmacy training programs, all major Pennsylvania healthcare systems, and the PA Professional Health Monitoring Program of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) to offer private and confidential paths to seeking assistance for behavioral, psychiatric, and substance use disorders.
  
  
• S.A.R.P.H. -  an independent, non-profit organization, dedicated to helping pharmacists and pharmacy interns manage substance use and mental health disorders. 

• Mental Health in PA - resources from the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) for mental health and substance use disorder.

• PPA Career Center – Opportunities for professional pharmacy positions can be found here.

About The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association

Founded in 1878, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association is a professional membership organization of more than 2,300 pharmacists and pharmacy students across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, representing nearly all facets of pharmacy practice. As the leading voice of pharmacy in Pennsylvania, PPA promotes the profession through advocacy, education, and communication to enhance patient care and public health.

 
 

As part of expanding efforts to identify and understand workforce and workplace challenges that may be experienced by its members, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) Board of Directors adopted the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) policy statement on workplace conditions which:

• calls for employers to provide fair, realistic, and equitable workplace conditions for pharmacy personnel that promote a safe, healthy, and sustainable working environment;
• urges all entities that impact pharmacy personnel workplace conditions to adopt the Pharmacists Fundamental Responsibilities and Rights ;
• urges employers to develop and empower pharmacy personnel to use flexible practice management models based on available staffing, expertise, and resources that balance workloads to minimize distractions;
• advocates for employers to provide workplace onboarding and training for pharmacy personnel to optimize employee performance and satisfaction;
• encourages pharmacy personnel, starting with leaders, to model and facilitate individualized healthy working behaviors that improve well-being and to encourage and empower colleagues to do the same;
• ·opposes the sole use of productivity and fiscal measures for employee performance evaluations; and
• calls for employers and employees to collaborate in the development and use of behavioral performance competencies in performance evaluations.

Pharmacists are trusted healthcare professionals who play a vital role in ensuring optimal medication use, providing patient counseling and referrals to critical community resources, and administering vaccines even throughout a pandemic. Effective delivery of these services demands working conditions that prioritize the safety of pharmacy professionals and their patients with appropriate staffing models that permit pharmacists and pharmacy staff the time and resources necessary to focus on patients.

The most recent Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Report highlights that inadequate staffing, unreasonable metrics, and harassment continue to plague pharmacists and pharmacy staff in practice settings where companies set work demands that exceed the time available to address them safely and accurately.

A significant contributing factor to understaffing and unrealistic performance metrics is a payment system misalignment that rewards volume over value. The predominant reimbursement model for pharmacists and pharmacies primarily centers on medication dispensing rather than addressing patients' clinical needs to improve health outcomes. This payment system for pharmacy services is fundamentally flawed, placing the burden for shareholder wealth on the shoulders of pharmacy staff, at a time when the roles of pharmacists are expanding well beyond the mere dispensing of medications.

The PPA, along with our colleagues in the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, urges all stakeholders - employers, educators, boards of pharmacy, third-party payers, federal and state legislators and legislatures, pharmacy professionals, associations, and all those who can make a difference – to take action and engage in critical dialogue to find solutions that will ensure continued public access to pharmacy services.

Through its work with a statewide alliance of pharmacy organizations, PPA has and continues to support legislation intended to bring parity to the payment system for community pharmacy. Our most recent efforts are focused on enforcement of these laws, and we remain optimistic that our Community Pharmacy Caucus members, House and Senate Leaders, and the Pennsylvania Administration will continue to support our efforts to sustain pharmacies as a critical access point for Pennsylvania constituents.

As the PPA continues to build on our recently adopted Workplace Conditions Policy we encourage our members to stay diligent, share your concerns, ideas and resources, and stay tuned for additional information and announcements about next steps.

Additional information and resources:

Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Reporting portal – Recent published reports are available here. The PWWR is a safe, confidential, and anonymous avenue for pharmacy personnel to report positive and negative workplace experiences developed by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) and the APhA. We encourage all pharmacists and pharmacy staff to complete this confidential and anonymous survey to be used to drive lasting change in our industry.

Well-being Index – A tool designed to be used on a regular basis by pharmacy professionals – this collective knowledge assesses the pulse of a workforce stretched to their limits and encourages action from stakeholders based on those results. We encourage all pharmacy staff to engage for their own sake.

PA Professional Health Monitoring Program – conducted through the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA), the PHMP provides a method by which professionals suffering from a mental or physical disorder, such as a substance use disorder, may be directed to appropriate treatment and receive monitoring to ensure that they can safely practice their licensed profession. 

PA Physicians Health Program – an independent, non-profit peer assistance organization within the Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society which provides pharmacists, pharmacy students, and other eligible healthcare professionals a connection to services. In addition to accepting self-referrals and working with individuals, the PAPHP works closely with Pennsylvania pharmacy training programs, all major Pennsylvania healthcare systems, and the PA Professional Health Monitoring Program of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) to offer private and confidential paths to seeking assistance for behavioral, psychiatric, and substance use disorders.

S.A.R.P.H .  - an independent, non-profit organization, dedicated to helping pharmacists and pharmacy interns manage substance use and mental health disorders.

PPA Career Center – Opportunities for professional pharmacy positions can be found here.

Mental Health in PA - resources from the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS)
for mental health and substance use disorder.

Mark Your Calendar!

PPA Regional Meetings – specifically for students and new practitioners to network, identify new and rewarding career opportunities.

Eastern Regional Meeting – October 21, 2023 at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy/St. Joseph’s University.

Western Regional Meeting  - November 11, 2023 at the University of Pittsburgh

PPA Annual Conference , February 2-4, 2024, at the Harrisburg Hilton

About The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association

Founded in 1878, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association is a professional membership organization of more than 2,300 pharmacists and pharmacy students across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, representing nearly all facets of pharmacy practice. As the leading voice of pharmacy in Pennsylvania, PPA promotes the profession through advocacy, education, and communication to enhance patient care and public health. For more information about PPA, visit www.papharmacists.com.

Harrisburg, PA --- The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) for the COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccine Uptake Initiative. The program is supported with funding from the Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Through a collaborative arrangement with member pharmacies and community partners, the PPA will develop and expand the vaccination education and access in medically underserved counties in the Commonwealth with a focus on disabled and older adults who demonstrate a high socioeconomic need. Targeted counties include Allegheny, Adams, Bedford, Blair, Bradford, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lancaster, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Somerset, Venango and Warren.

Funding for up to 25 participating pharmacies in the target counties will support vaccination initiatives, vaccine clinics, in-home vaccinations and participation in community education events to assist with scheduling vaccination appointments and providing trusted information on COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

To support pharmacy vaccination efforts, PPA’s subject matter experts will provide education and training of participating pharmacy staff on immunization schedules, best practices for implementation of vaccination clinics and use of appropriate social services referrals. In addition, pharmacies will receive guidance on media outreach including communication toolkits to engage their communities in their vaccine initiatives.

Community partnerships with the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network,  Value Drug Company, the Latino Connection and the Pennsylvania Health Care Association will extend the vaccine uptake initiative through assistance with referral services, coordination of community health events and scheduling of vaccine clinics at which participating pharmacy staff will provide vaccinations to these hard-to-reach populations in accessible and comfortable settings.

Today, nearly nine out of 10 deaths from COVID-19 are among people 65 and over, and 70-85% of seasonal flu-related deaths occur in older adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While lifesaving vaccines are available, research shows COVID-19 vaccine uptake has slowed among older adults. Thanks to this grant, PPA will organize a robust vaccination program to address this challenge in some of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable communities.

“The PPA is honored to be a recipient of these funds and excited to have this opportunity to support our community pharmacies who were, are and will remain the most crucial front-line access for so many of our most vulnerable patients in the Commonwealth,” says PPA Chief Executive Officer Victoria Elliott, RPh, MBA, CAE.

About The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association

Founded in 1878, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association is a professional membership organization of more than 2,300 pharmacists and pharmacy students across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, representing nearly all facets of pharmacy practice. As the leading voice of pharmacy in Pennsylvania, PPA promotes the profession through advocacy, education, and communication to enhance patient care and public health. For more information about PPA, visit www.papharmacists.com.

About the National Council on Aging

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is the national voice for every person’s right to age well. NCOA believes that how we age should not be determined by gender, color, sexuality, income, or ZIP code. Working with thousands of national and local partners, NCOA provides resources, tools, best practices, and advocacy to ensure every person can age with health and financial security. Founded in 1950, NCAO is the oldest national organization focused on older adults. Learn more at www.ncoa.org and @NCOAging.

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