(1303) Impact of Community Health Worker Training on Patient Engagement with Enhanced Social Services in a Community Pharmacy Setting

Objectives: The American Hospital Association stated that SDOH factors count for 40% of a patient's health while access and quality of care count for 20%.1 Community pharmacy technicians trained as Community Health Workers (CHW) are strategically positioned to engage people with chronic health conditions, to identify SDOH needs that are preventing them from meeting their health goals, refer them to resources to meet those needs and improve their health outcomes. The primary objective of this project is to improve access and promote safe and effective medication use through the use of specially trained pharmacy technicians to assess social determinants of health (SDOH) needs and refer to resources to close gaps in care. The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) will work with its CPESN affiliated subsidiary, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network (PPCN), to identify pharmacies actively engaged in programs focused on the use of SDOH screenings and referrals to improve patient medication use and health outcomes. PPCN is a network of 218 pharmacies that play a vital role in enhancing patient care across the state. These pharmacies are able to provide services (including SDOH screenings and referrals) in partnership with health plans. With the help of community health workers (CHWs) who are frontline public health workers that serve as a liaison between the healthcare system and social services, patients will be provided resources that decrease their public health needs. Building these relationships between pharmacy staff and patients helps to facilitate access to services and improve the quality of life for our patients. This study aims to understand if community health workers who are integrated into the pharmacy workflow impact enhanced service engagement.

Methods: Five pharmacy technicians from five PPCN-affiliated pharmacies across Pennsylvania will be selected for this project. The pharmacy technicians will complete a 16 week community health worker training via the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. They will then administer a SDOH screening to eligible patients through available PPCN payer programs, and make referrals to needed community and health system resources. These CHW trained pharmacy technicians will follow up with the patients who received a referral to assess success. SDOH assessments and referrals will be documented in a Pharmacist eCarePlan per the requirements of the PPCN payer programs. Monthly eCarePlan summary reports will be evaluated compared to matched PPCN pharmacies without a pharmacy technician participant to assess SDOH assessment and referral impact. By supporting the training of 5 pharmacy technicians as Community Health Workers, researchers will evaluate the impact of CHW training for pharmacy technicians, including SDOH program engagement and referrals.

Results: Preliminary

Results: Research in progress.

Conclusions: Supporting the training of pharmacy technicians as Community Health Workers has the potential to increase SDOH assessments and referrals to resources conducted at community pharmacies. This project will evaluate the impact which may lead to further support and expansion of pharmacy technicians trained as community health workers at community pharmacies providing enhanced services.