As the nation's most accessible health care professionals — and through telehealth — pharmacists are being empowered to provide critical patient services; however, this work is not without risk, which also needs to be addressed. PQA members are advocating for and supporting pharmacists as our health system’s medication experts. They are:

• Recommending policies to: authorize test-treat-immunize; ease operational barriers to address workforce and workflow issues; address shortages and continuity of care; and reimburse for services and remove barriers
• Highlighting best practices to ensure the safety of pharmacists, while leveraging their experience and skills to meet the needs of patients
• Establishing guidelines to limit COVID exposures and protocols for pharmacists and pharmacy staff, who have had contact with infected patients

PQA Members in Action

Drug Shortages – and COVID-19

Early refills, drug substitutions, off-label use and supply chain interruptions may all contribute to drug shortages sparked by the COVID-19 crisis. PQA members are anticipating and responding to potential drug shortages. Here are some of the ways they’re taking action.

Access to Care 

Social distancing, unemployment and current or anticipated financial difficulties for millions of Americans are affecting access to care and access to medications. PQA members are taking steps to overcome and eliminate the barriers that reduce patient access to care during the COVID crisis. Those efforts include:

Every PQA member is involved in the fight against COVID-19, which is affecting every aspect of healthcare, including medication use quality. PQA wants to share with you some of the ways our member are addressing COVID challenges as the relate to:

• Access to care -- Social distancing, unemployment and current or anticipated financial difficulties for millions of Americans is affecting access to care and access to medications.
• Drug shortages -- Early refills, drug substitutions, off-label use and supply chain interruptions may all contribute to drug shortages sparked by this crisis.
• Pharmacist empowerment -- As the nation's most accessible health care professionals — and through telehealth — pharmacists are being empowered to provide critical patient services; however, this work is not without risk, which also needs to be addressed.

This week, we will debut an individual blog post dedicated to each of these three areas. The posts will include links to the actions our members are taking. The lists are far from exhaustive and will be updated periodically. We welcome additional online and publicly available resources that our members would like to share. You can email suggested links to us at [email protected].