(1227) Implementation of a Collaborative Practice Agreement for Behavioral Health in the Primary Care Setting

Objectives: Mental health disorders can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. There is a lack of appropriate access to mental health care in the United States, particularly in the underserved community. Data shows that individuals living below the poverty level are 2.5 times more likely to develop depression but have inadequate healthcare resources available. Factors contributing to this disparity include the shortage of accessible healthcare providers, transportation limitations, and lack of insurance coverage. Even in areas with accessible healthcare resources, primary care practitioners are often tasked with addressing multiple complex issues in a limited amount of time. This restricts the ability to fully assess efficacy of pharmacotherapy for behavioral health conditions as desired and recommended. These barriers can affect the patient’s care.

To help address these barriers within primary care, a collaborative practice agreement (CPA) was created and implemented in November 2021. The objective of this study is to describe the growth of the pharmacist-led behavioral health service within outpatient primary care clinics.

Methods: This study takes place within the network of 7 outpatient primary care clinics affiliated with a large academic medical center. Retrospective chart review utilizing the electronic health record (EHR) was utilized to collect information to describe the growth of the behavioral health service from November 1, 2021 to March 1, 2023. An EHR-generated report was used to identify patients for which a behavioral health management referral to the pharmacist was placed during the study timeframe. The report also included patient demographics, consulting prescriber and practice location, and date of referral to pharmacist. Retrospective chart review of the EHR will be used to gather the following information to evaluate the growth of the service: (1) reason for the behavioral health management referral to the pharmacist, (2) whether patient was successfully scheduled with a pharmacist for behavioral health management, (3) number of visits completed with a pharmacist through the service, (4) reason for completion of behavioral health management with a pharmacist, (5) medication type(s) patient was taking at time of enrollment in service, and (6) number of medication changes made by pharmacist through the behavioral health management service.

Results: Data collection is in progress.

Conclusions: To be determined following data collection and analysis.