Addressing Health Inequities and Disparities by Improving Immunization Practice Standards in Independent Community Pharmacies - Independent pharmacies are a major segment of pharmacy, representing nearly 35% of community pharmacies in the U.S., with about 80% located in population areas of 50,000 or less. Increasing the implementation of immunization practice standards among independent community pharmacies will increase immunization rates on a national level and will decrease disparities among racial/ethnic minorities and rural populations. The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) represents and advocates for independent community pharmacies across the United States. NCPA’s members include pharmacists, pharmacy owners, pharmacy technicians, student chapters in pharmacy schools, and pharmacy association executives from all 50 states. NCPA will deliver a comprehensive program that 1) improves pharmacy personnel knowledge related to immunization practice standards, 2) reduces implementation barriers to promote sustainable practice, and 3) strengthens relationships between community pharmacists, other immunization providers, health departments and community leaders, with the goals of increasing immunization coverage and vaccine confidence, as well as reducing disparities. Specifically, the project will provide education, tools, and resources for pharmacy owners, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians practicing in independently owned community pharmacies to 1) increase their knowledge of immunization practices and enable them to provide sustainable immunization services that continually address public health needs, 2) meet immunization standards in terms of documentation, reporting, and referral, and 3) assist the nation in emergency preparedness and response initiatives. Our principal strategy is to equip independent pharmacy owners, pharmacists, and technicians with the knowledge and “how-to” skills to drive changes in their immunization services. We will seek approval and buy in from pharmacy owners at the organizational level to ensure sustainability. The proposed project will address the following core activity areas, including: 1) current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations, proper vaccine administration, storage, and handling to ensure safe and effective vaccination practices, 2) immunization practices including vaccination documentation, reporting, and referral that adhere to respective jurisdiction vaccine supply chain and administration technical standards, 3) pandemic vaccination planning guidance to reduce immunization disparities through formalized agreements between pharmacies, pharmacy associations, and public health programs, and 4) collaboration with leaders in communities to address vaccine equity and improve vaccine confidence. Program success will be measured using both process and outcome measures. Knowledge gain will be measured immediately after the training for each education programs. Other various measures will be collected as short-term and intermediate outcomes through surveys. Measures will include current immunization services, Immunization Information Systems (IISs) enrollment and utilization, referral practices, pharmacies with established data exchange at IIS Functional Standards, degree of participation in emergency-preparedness, types of relationship with health departments, and how pharmacies partner with community leaders to increase vaccine coverage. We will assess the progress and the implementation fidelity throughout the project period. Practice improvement will be captured by assessing practice change at the end of the project as compared to the baseline.
