Getting Started with Collaborative Practice Agreements
Charmaine Rochester-Eyeguokan, PharmD, BCACP, CDCES - University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - and Jeffrey Tingen, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, BCACP, CDCES - VCU Health, Department of Family Medicine & Population Health - talk to use about the ins and outs of collaborative practice agreements. Key Lessons Collaborative practice is governed by state law and regulations; it is important to be familiar with the specific rules for constructing collaborative practice agreements (CPA) in your state. Many states require pharmacists to have specific training and experience in order to enter into a CPA - but some states have relatively few requirements or none at all. CPAs are useful tools to enable greater efficiency by granting the pharmacist greater autonomy to carry out certain patient care functions; however, a CPA is not required to perform many functions that are ordinarily a part of a pharmacist's scope of practice. It's important to have a significant level of rapport and trust with your providers crafting a CPA together. While CPAs are fairly common in ambulatory clinics, they are a potentially useful tool in community pharmacy practice, long-term care facilities, and specialty pharmacy practice. To learn more about collaborative practice and CPA, check out the Collaborative Practice Resource Page on the iForumRx.org website.