Survey of direct patient care and payment models among pharmacy practice faculty

Abstract

AbstractIntroductionThe scope of pharmacy practice continues to expand into comprehensive medication management and direct patient care models, where practice‐based faculty play a central role. The extent to which schools/colleges of pharmacy have faculty embedded in health systems, physician practices, and other value‐based care settings involving practice plans is largely unknown.ObjectivesThe objectives of this project were to: (1) elucidate the perceptions, barriers, and implementation strategies related to direct patient care models, and (2) to further our understanding of how practice departments are employing practice plans, within schools/colleges of pharmacy.MethodsA 25‐item survey was distributed via email. Eligible respondents were pharmacy practice department chairs at United States‐based colleges/schools of pharmacy. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize workload allocations, direct patient care activities, and billing/reimbursement trends among practice faculty.Measurements and Main ResultsSurvey respondents included 43 institutions (32.6% institutional response rate) representing 1241 practice faculty and nearly 800 faculty involved in direct patient care activities. Faculty at private institutions tended to have a higher degree of effort in direct patient care (26.3% vs 4.3%) and were more involved in billing for services in the clinic setting, when compared with public institutions. Although Collaborative Practice Agreements were widely utilized, very few institutions employed practice revenue plans.ConclusionThe findings of our study indicate that pharmacy practice faculty provide significant effort in direct patient care that is critical to advancing the profession. These faculty practicing in primary and ambulatory care settings serve as role models to our student trainees, particularly in value‐based care settings. However, practice plan payment models appear to be rarely utilized. Failure to account for and recognize these valuable direct patient care activities may adversely impact the financial sustainability of schools and colleges of pharmacy in the future.