ASHP Talks COVID Response, Provider Status During Meeting With Biden

ASHP CEO Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon.), FASHP and several ASHP senior staff met today with key members of President-elect Joe Biden's transition team to discuss pharmacist engagement in the COVID-19 response and opportunities for the pharmacy workforce to address other critical public health priorities. 

During the meeting, we shared the ASHP principles for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, allocation, and mass immunization and underscored the need for the transition team and federal agencies to engage pharmacists when planning our nation's ongoing response to COVID-19. We stressed that pharmacists' ability to test, treat, and immunize, where possible, is vital to public health and urged the officials to maintain expansions of pharmacists' authority to order and administer COVID-19 testing and pediatric immunizations after the public health emergency concludes.

We also emphasized the need for federal communication and planning for the vaccine allocation and delivery, as ASHP has observed that the different approaches to prioritization and tiering taken by state health authorities are creating frustration among practitioners and the public.

The conversation included a frank discussion about barriers to fully integrating pharmacists in the COVID-19 response. We pointed to inadequate reimbursement for pharmacists' patient care services as a critical obstacle. We stressed how pharmacists' lack of provider recognition complicates the development and uptake of new care models. We asked for a meeting with the incoming Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials to discuss these issues more fully.

Other topics discussed during the meeting included drug pricing and preservation of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, supply chain security and drug shortages, and advances such as personalized medicine.

ASHP plans to have ongoing communication with the Biden team and will continue to update members about efforts to educate federal and state health policymakers about the valuable roles the pharmacy workforce plays on the healthcare team.