From the NCAP Office
NCAP Appoints Pre-Grassroots Workgroup By Penny Shelton In 1998 North Carolina became one of the first states in the union to allow collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists. At the time, to help with the passage of collaborative practice authority (CPA), a number of restrictions were incorporated to help ensure safe implementation of this new type of practice. During the two decades since, the uptake and implementation of collaborative practice has been limited at best. Significant changes have occurred with healthcare in the U.S., including a shortage in primary care providers, greater chronic disease burden and increased overall healthcare costs. Also, pharmacy education has significantly advanced during this same time frame, including the transition to the Doctor of Pharmacy as the entry-level degree, and multiple ACPE standards and guideline revisions designed to ensure pharmacists are taught the fundamentals of disease management and ongoing monitoring of treatment. It is time for North Carolina to modify its CPA statute to enable optimum use of collaborative practice agree-
ing teams of physicians and pharmacists willing to share their collaborative care experience with legislators and others. Watch the NCAP Enews for “Calls to Action” and other information related to this and other important adThe North Carolina Associa- vocacy issues. tion of Pharmacists appointed a workgroup to conduct NCAP CPA Pre-Grassroots pre-grassroots work on our Workgroup collaborative practice authority. Workgroup members are Amina Abubakar noted below. The group be- Olivia Bentley gan their work on November Patrick Brown 20th, and they are charged Jennifer Burch with identifying the pivotal Matt Gibson elements of the statute for Cathy Huie which a new bill is needed Jerry McKee along with the messaging that Cortney Mospan NCAP will use in advocating Dave Phillips for change. The workgroup Mollie Scott is also charged with identify- Betsy Shilliday ments in all care settings and to improve access to care for patients by reducing barriers and making it easier for physicians and pharmacists to engage in collaborative practice agreements.
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