Practice Advancement

1815 UPDATE

In July, IPA began the final year of the 1815 project with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). To recognize the work of pharmacists in community, ambulatory care and hospital pharmacies, IPA is providing technical assistance and support to twenty-two pharmacies across the state on initiatives around diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The IPA team will be meeting with pharmacists and their teams throughout the year to help review policies and procedures, develop workflow processes, and aid in the development of services to help patients achieve better health outcomes. As part of the grant, IPA staff are developing resources and education on data collection and billing for these services. For more information on this project, please contact IPA’s Director of Professional Affairs, Emmeline Paintsil, at epaintsil@iarx.org.

VACCINE EQUITY GRANT

The IPA team and membership have had an active past few months supporting initiatives within the vaccine equity grant. IPA continues to partner with HHS on increasing COVID-19 vaccine confidence, engaging trusted messengers, and addressing vaccine hesitancy for populations that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. IPA has been collaborating with external stakeholders, such as the Iowa Public Health Association and Iowa Medical Society, to identify opportunities to boost confidence around COVID-19 boosters and vaccines for pediatric patients and adolescents.

Additionally, IPA continues to highlight the work of our members who serve as trusted messengers in communicating evidence-based information regarding COVID-19 to the media and their communities. While this grant ends in December of this year, the IPA team is exploring opportunities with HHS to continue this work in 2023. For more information on this project and how to collaborate with IPA, please contact IPA’s Director of Professional Affairs, Emmeline Paintsil.

HEALTH DISPARITIES GRANT

Health equity and addressing social determinants of health remains important to IPA and HHS. IPA is expanding opportunities to collaborate with pharmacies in providing education, screenings, and testing for chronic disease states that have been impacted by COVID-19. We are currently looking to work with researchers from Drake University and the University of Iowa on health equity topics, most notably in our rural communities. Additionally, IPA staff are developing plans for IPA Goes Local 2023, which will focus on trauma-informed care and how pharmacy teams can support their patients. IPA hopes to bring back Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trainings in 2023 with the support of funding from the health disparities grant. To learn more about this project or collaborate with IPA, please contact IPA’s Director of Professional Affairs, Emmeline Paintsil.

PTCB PARTNERSHIP FUND

With funding received from PTCB, IPA launched its IPA Pharmacy Technician Advancement Fund to support the education, training and advancement of pharmacy technicians in Iowa. This scholarship may provide compensation, varying from 25-100%, for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE), PTCB point-of-care testing certificate, or other advanced certificate credentialing for technicians. Online applications were accepted through December 1, 2022. Pharmacy technicians will be notified of their selection in January. For more information, visit www.iarx.org/techadvancement.

RCORP UPDATE

Over the last three months, IPA has worked diligently to gather resources to support pharmacists and providers in three rural counties caring for patients with chronic and acute pain. These resources were combined to create a document titled, “Best Practices of Pain Management: A Team-Based Approach.” This document highlights best practices for pain management under collaborative practice, non-pharmacologic and non-opioid treatment options, when opioid treatment should be considered, calculation of morphine milligram equivalents (MME), and appropriate patient monitoring and follow-up. In addition to pain management best practices, IPA has spent time researching naloxone access laws, distribution methods, and reporting requirements to gain insight on how other states navigate naloxone distribution and administration for opioid overdose.

HCV SURVEILLANCE & PREVENTION

IPA has been leading a multi-year grant project implementing HIV and HCV screenings in community pharmacies since 2019. This project has been in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Bureau of HIV, STI, and Hepatitis.

Because of the success of the testing project and the relationship with HHS, IPA was awarded additional funding to assess policies and practices related to the sale of syringes without a prescription and naloxone distribution within pharmacies across the state. The Board of Pharmacy will assist IPA in data collection for this project by adding additional questions on pharmacy license renewal applications. Once data is collected, IPA will identify opportunities to provide targeted technical assistance and education related to syringe sales and the availability of naloxone.

This project is part of the Iowa Hepatitis Action Plan created by Iowa HHS and the Iowa HIV and Hepatitis Community Planning Group. This collaboration created a blueprint for the delivery of prevention and care services with the goal to improve access to sterile syringes and naloxone.

Increasing access to testing plays a large part in the fight against the HIV epidemic. IPA is looking to gain more interest in the HIV and HCV screening project, specifically in the following counties: Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Calhoun, Webster, Humboldt, Kossuth, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wapello. These are areas of the state HHS considers focus areas based on their epidemiology reporting. If you are interested in participating or would like to learn more, please contact Kellie Staiert, IPA’s Lead Project & Partner Manager, at kstaiert@iarx.org.

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