CVS Health Corp. CVS 0.91% is testing a system that would allow pharmacists to process prescriptions partially remotely, a move it says could improve in-store working conditions and the experience for customers as the company struggles with a shortage of pharmacists has fight.
CVS has equipped approximately 8,000 of its more than 9,000 U.S. drugstores with technology that enables pharmacists to remotely review and enter prescription information, while maintaining patient privacy requirements. About 400 of CVS’s 30,000 pharmacists currently help prepare prescriptions either in central locations, from home, or in stores that aren’t where medications are dispensed, the company said.
The largest US pharmacy chain by sales said its initiative, which began in Arizona last summer, will reduce the workload for store pharmacists and enable them to offer customers a broader range of services, such as vaccinations and health screenings. The plan does not include changes to the way people pick up their prescribed medications at CVS pharmacies.
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However, some practitioners have concerns about whether CVS’s plan will ultimately improve service or working conditions for pharmacists amid chronic staffing shortages. Government regulations also pose some obstacles for the company to further implement its plan.
“It’s really a way to make recipe processing much more efficient,” CVS executive director Karen Lynch said in an interview.
CVS and rival Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. are fighting to stem the exodus of drugstore pharmacists by offering measures like bonuses, higher wages and guaranteed lunch breaks. Pharmacists were in short supply even before the pandemic; Demand for Covid-19 vaccinations and testing coupled with a nationwide labor shortage exacerbated the problem.
Walgreens, with nearly 9,000 U.S. locations, said shortages of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have caused it to reduce hours at about a third of its stores, resulting in lost sales and frustrating customers. The chain is building a network of automated, centralized drug filling centers that the company says will reduce pharmacists’ workloads.
Corporate giants from Amazon to CVS are investing billions in primary care practices. It’s part of a broader shift in US healthcare to a more value-based model. Here you can find out what this means for doctors, patients and health insurance companies. Photo illustration: Amber Bragdon
The CVS initiative is a step in the direction in which pharmacists will eventually be able to perform critical tasks like verifying pill counts in physical bottles from remote locations, which most state pharmacy boards currently don’t allow, executives said. In this scenario, pills would be placed on a special tray by a pharmacy technician, which would use weight the pill count, and this information, along with pictures of the prescription, would be beamed to a pharmacist who could work in another store or central location .
The scope of CVS adoption is limited in part by state regulations that require pharmacies to have a certain number of on-site pharmacists or prohibit remote drug screening, the company said. These rules vary by state, and most states prohibit pharmacists from working remotely.
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CVS operates essentially all of its stores on a regular basis, and the workforce shortage is not costing the company any revenue, said Prem Shah, CVS’ chief pharmacy officer.
However, Mr Shah said staffing levels remain an issue as many pharmacists are still overworked and fewer people are attending pharmacy schools. In the meantime, he said, pharmacists are leaving drugstores to work in hospitals or other jobs.
According to the Pharmacy College Application Service, a centralized application service for pharmacy schools, the number of pharmacy school applicants has fallen by more than a third from its peak a decade ago.
“We need to win them back by creating a better environment,” Mr Shah said. “We’re really looking inward at how we provide pharmacy care in our country.”
Richard Dang, president of the California Pharmacists Association, said he supports the idea of enabling pharmacists to provide more advanced clinical services, but is skeptical that remote prescription verification will reduce pharmacists’ workloads or improve patient care. And he fears that such a system will ultimately not result in more resources for pharmacists.
“In the past, the larger companies have shown no commitment to increasing staff,” said Mr. Dang. “It really depends on how it’s built and implemented. When you verify remotely, you lose tactile, in-person verification of the color of the pill or the pill count. It leaves room for error.”
The CVS plan aims to free up pharmacists to provide customers with more services, such as vaccinations and health screenings.
Photo: Stefanie Dazio/Associated Press
Pharmacy-free drugstores are not CVS’s goal, Mr Shah said, although the company is evaluating whether pharmacies would be able to operate without pharmacists on staff at times in some cases.
The larger goal is to improve workflow, both to reduce the workload on pharmacists and to better manage store traffic and staffing levels, Mr Shah said. For example, after Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc in southwest Florida in September, pharmacists from unaffected CVS locations were able to remotely help hard-hit stores with prescription verifications, he said.
CVS plans to equip all of its stores with technology to remotely review and enter prescription information by next year, the company said.
Pharmacists’ time is also becoming increasingly valuable, Mr Shah said, as they are able to provide a wider range of medical services. CVS is betting that these additional services could generate significant revenue and attract more customers to its stores. Covid testing and vaccinations brought in billions in revenue for CVS and Walgreens early in the pandemic, but demand has fallen sharply this year.
CVS said last month its pharmacists can now evaluate and prescribe Paxlovid, an oral antiviral treatment, for Covid-positive patients. Walgreens has begun hiring pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to test for the flu by swabs for the virus. And the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy recently approved a protocol for noninvasive colon cancer screening that can be performed by pharmacists.
Write to Sharon Terlep at [email protected]
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