(1105) The Impact of a Community Pharmacist Referral on the Completion of Annual Wellness Visits

Objectives: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2011 and created a plethora of positive changes for the United States (U.S.) health care system, including the creation of the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV). AWVs are preventive care visits designed to promote overall health and well-being for older adults, and AWVs are available to all Medicare enrollees at no charge to the beneficiary. Despite the proven benefits of preventive health care, AWV completion rate is significantly behind the anticipated completion rate. Community pharmacies create an ideal setting to refer eligible patients as pharmacists are highly trusted, easily accessible health care professionals equipped to educate patients on the importance of AWVs. By leveraging those benefits, a community pharmacist referral program may increase the acceptance and completion rate of AWVs. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a community pharmacist referral on patient acceptance and completion of Medicare AWVs. The number of completed AWVs will be compared to 1) the number of completed and successful pharmacy AWV referrals, 2) the total number of patients targeted for AWV referral, and 3) the percentage of patients who previously completed their AWV in the past 12 months. Secondary objectives will evaluate declination reasons, describe the source of AWV completion, and analyze the time from referral to visit completion.

Methods: This retrospective study will be conducted at approximately 60 pharmacies of a large chain community pharmacy across multiple states. Most of these pharmacies are located within the same building as a retail health clinic, where board-certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide primary care services. At the intervention sites, all pharmacy personnel will complete AWV referral training. They will also receive bi-weekly communication and continuing education documents from the research team during the study. Patients will be identified through prescription fill reports from the pharmacy management system. Patients will be included if they are 66 years of age or older, have active Medicare coverage, and have filled a prescription in the previous six months. Pharmacy personnel will offer the referral face-to-face at the pharmacy counter or contact applicable patients via telephone. The referral process will be implemented within the pharmacy management system. During the referral process, patients will be educated on the importance of AWVs. In addition, patients will be advised of various health care providers available to complete AWVs, including their primary care provider, medical specialists, and other conveniently located health care providers. If a patient accepts the referral and would like to schedule at the retail health clinic, pharmacy personnel will offer to schedule the patient for an AWV, but the patient may opt to schedule at a health care provider of their choosing. A follow-up intervention will occur eight to twelve weeks after the initial intervention for patients who accepted the referral to verify completion of the AWV and advise on next steps if they have not completed their AWV. The primary objective, patient acceptance and completion of an AWV, will be evaluated using a Chi-square test to determine statistical significance. All primary and secondary objectives will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. This study will be submitted for approval to the Institutional Review Board at the University of Cincinnati.

Results: N/A - Research in Progress

Conclusions: N/A - Research in Progress