Pharmacists and Population Health

Amanda Schartel, PharmD, BCACP - Clinical Pharmacy Specialist with ChristianaCare CareVio - talks with us about the roles and responsibilities of a population health pharmacist.

Key Lessons:

• Population health involves holistically evaluating the health needs of a population and bringing together the resources and expertise needed to address those needs.
• Population health teams often include practitioners that many patients in primary care settings don't ordinarily have access including social workers, respiratory therapists, and clinical pharmacists.
• Sophisticated data analytics and remote monitoring tools help population health practitioners proactively identify patients who may need additional services or whose health status may be changing.
• Patient encounters are often conducting using videoconferencing technology and text-messaging can quickly capture patient experience data. 
• The role and responsibilities of the population health pharmacist often extend beyond what an ambulatory care pharmacist might address.
• Population health pharmacists often have the authority to adjust medication regimens and order laboratory tests.
• Residency training and board certification are not required but preferred for those seeking employment as a population health pharmacist. 
• The key skill sets needed by a population health pharmacist include patient management experience addressing complex medication-related issues as well as a deep knowledge of quality metrics and value-based payment structures.