Research Areas

PHARMACY AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Implementing health information exchange (HIE) in community pharmacies​

Although noted as one of the most accessible healthcare providers in the United States, community pharmacists rarely have routine access to patient data to help improve patient care and outcomes. In the first implementation phase, we teamed up with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) and PioneerRx (a widely utilized pharmacy software) to design a clickable-PDF prototype of an HIE interface for community pharmacies. Eight pharmacists, 8 pharmacy technicians, and 7 patients across 3 pharmacy locations (2 rural and 1 urban) in Indiana participated in interviews to help us identify anticipated barriers, facilitators, and recommendations for using HIE in community pharmacies to inform the creation and implementation of HIE and needed supports for use by community pharmacy teams. In the subsequent phase of the project, we obtained feedback from an advisory panel comprising community pharmacy team members and patients. This feedback informed the development of a toolkit for implementation and the establishment of a fully functional bidirectional Health Information Exchange (HIE) in community pharmacies. Check out our most recent publication, “Preparing community pharmacy teams for health information exchange (HIE)” 

Helping build healthy communities project

Since 2013, the Helping Build Healthy Communities (HBHC) program has supported pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (MTM) efforts at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Recently it expanded its program to integrate responses to challenges patients face related to the broader social determinants of health alongside clinical care. Four FQHC partners are participating in this current evaluation of the expanded HBHC program, each incorporating different ways to identify and address SDOH alongside managing diabetes. SDOH interventions include administering SDOH assessments to patients, employing patient navigators and community health workers, direct referrals to social workers and culturally aligned pharmacy technicians. Our recent poster presentation, “Community Health Center Patient and Provider Perspectives of the Helping Build Healthy Communities Initiative: A Qualitative Study

Community pharmacy advancement: Flip the Pharmacy initiative

We provided advanced community pharmacy practice training for fourth-year pharmacy students at Purdue University through a designated Flip the Pharmacy (FtP) advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotation. FtP is a practice transformation initiative promoting longitudinal patient-centered care in the community pharmacy setting. The FtP transformation process has six domains, focusing on identifying and adopting best practices for promoting enhanced clinical services across four progressions. These FtP domains and progressions include developing new roles for pharmacy technicians, other non-pharmacist support staff, and an SDOH focus area. Mentored by faculty coaches, students served as Practice Transformation Coaches monthly to 12 Team Indiana FtP pharmacy sites. Students conducted pharmacy site visits to check in on progress and offer guidance to meet FtP goals. Check out our most recent publication, “Strengths and limitations of a novel “Flip the Pharmacy” practice transformation coach advanced pharmacy practice experience” 

  • Hettinger KN, Adeoye-Olatunde OA, Russ-Jara AL, Riley EG, Kepley KL, Snyder ME. Preparing
    community pharmacy teams for health information exchange (HIE). J Am Pharm Assoc. 2023 Dec;S1544-3191(23)00389-8. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2023.12.003. Epub ahead of print.
  • Hettinger KN, Snyder ME, Adeoye-Olatunde OA, Russ-Jara AL. Usability Evaluation of a Community
    Pharmacy Health Information Exchange Interface Prototype. Appl Clin Inform. 2023 Aug;14(4):811-821.
    doi:10.1055/a-2145-6980
  • Nichols MA, Hettinger KN, Greiwe LD, Whicker HG, Adeoye-Olatunde OA, Olenik NL, Snyder ME.
    Strengths and limitations of a novel “Flip the Pharmacy” practice transformation coach advanced pharmacy
    practice experience. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2023 Aug;15(8):761-768. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2023.07.005

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