Cvs vienna va near st patrick street12/13/2023 ![]() These announcements are a big deal because it continues to highlight the importance of pharmacist provided care, especially in the response of public health emergencies. Pharmacists have continued to come up in important discussions to provide vital healthcare services throughout 2020 due to their expertise and high accessibility by the public. It is no surprise that pharmacists are being discussed as key providers of care at this time in the pandemic. These announcements are a big deal for primarily two reasons. Additionally, it does not appear that pharmacist involvement is limited to those employed by CVS and Walgreens as it is stated in the second press release that LTCFs “can request to use their current pharmacy contracts to support COVID-19 vaccination.” ![]() ![]() ![]() Starting on October 19 th, LTCFs can opt-in to participate once the COVID-19 vaccine is available. Involvement in this program is not a requirement of LTCFs. This ties back to CMS’ first announcement that they will be exercising enforcement discretion of provider restrictions at LTCF to allow pharmacists to be reimbursed by CMS. As a reminder, OWS is the current administration’s plan to operationalize the efficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.Ī key point of this announcement is that there will be no out-of-pocket costs to receive a COVID-19 vaccine by a pharmacist at a LTCF. In this second press release, The Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program is introduced as a part of Operation Warp Speed (OWS). This specification makes more sense as one reviews the next announcement of CVS and Walgreens collaborating to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to patients at LTCFs. are specifically called out rather than highlighting the individual practitioner, such as the pharmacist. It is curious that pharmacies working with the U.S. The press release states that “CMS will allow Medicare-enrolled immunizers, including but not limited to pharmacies working with the United States, to bill directly and receive direct reimbursement from the Medicare program for vaccinating Medicare SNF residents.” With pharmacists already granted the authority to administer all CDC recommended vaccines to people above the age of 3 during the public health emergency, this opens the door for pharmacists to be reimbursed by CMS for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine for LTCF patients once it is approved. With this realization, CMS states that they will “exercise enforcement discretion” in order to “facilitate the efficient administration of COVID-19 vaccines to SNF residents”. Surprisingly, CMS highlights a key talking point of pharmacist provider status efforts for the past decade, that reimbursement for services is necessary to expand access to certain care. The main purpose of this announcement is to share that CMS recognizes pharmacists as key providers of vaccinations and that patients living in LTCF are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. ![]() The first announcement is relatively brief in length. Summary of the announcements and what they mean This week, we break down these announcements, what they mean, and the potential implications they may have. Following this press release, a second announcement shared the collaboration of CVS and Walgreens in the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine in long-term care facilities (LTCF). First, a press release was sent out that CMS would not be enforcing provider restrictions for the administration of the anticipated COVID-19 vaccine in skilled nursing facilities (SNF), specifically referencing pharmacists. Late last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made two surprising announcements. ![]()
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