Provider Status/Collaborative Practice Agreements

[MegaRave214]

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I have a couple of questions about provider status and collaborative practice agreements. I am not in pharmacy school, but I do have an interview this Friday. I am trying to learn more about these topics to become better educated on the subject matter. I have looked up both, but I have ended up confusing myself instead.

Questions:
1) Are provider status and collaborative practice agreements the same thing?
2) Does a pharmacist with provider status have to be in a collaborative practice agreement in order to have provider status?
3) Has legislation passed to include pharmacists in the social security act to become providers in all 50 states?
4) Do most pharmacists agree with the need for provider status and most physicians disagree or is it that there is disagreement on what pharmacists should actually be able to provide service-wise?

I apologize for all of the questions. I am really interested in learning more. If accepted in pharmacy school I think that I would like to work in a more clinical setting (complete residency and hopefully work at a VA facility).

Thank you.

 

[Apotheker2015]

I have a couple of questions about provider status and collaborative practice agreements. I am not in pharmacy school, but I do have an interview this Friday. I am trying to learn more about these topics to become better educated on the subject matter. I have looked up both, but I have ended up confusing myself instead.

Questions:
1) Are provider status and collaborative practice agreements the same thing?
2) Does a pharmacist with provider status have to be in a collaborative practice agreement in order to have provider status?
3) Has legislation passed to include pharmacists in the social security act to become providers in all 50 states?
4) Do most pharmacists agree with the need for provider status and most physicians disagree or is it that there is disagreement on what pharmacists should actually be able to provide service-wise?

I apologize for all of the questions. I am really interested in learning more. If accepted in pharmacy school I think that I would like to work in a more clinical setting (complete residency and hopefully work at a VA facility).

Thank you.

I wish all the best on your interview. But I must ask, are you aware of how saturated the pharmacist market is? You can still tailor your application to other careers in the medical field. If you want to be a provider, then apply for admission into a profession that already has that status. That is my humble opinion.

Take a moment to read through the article you'll find on that link. "How nurse practitioners obtained provider status: Lessons for pharmacists." You want to read it before your interview.
Medscape: Medscape Access

 

[MegaRave214]

I wish all the best on your interview. But I must ask, are you aware of how saturated the pharmacist market is? You can still tailor your application to other careers in the medical field. If you want to be a provider, then apply for admission into a profession that already has that status. That is my humble opinion.

Thank you for your input, I appreciate it. I am aware of how saturated the market has become. I am hopeful though. I genuinely love the field. I am someone who is willing to relocate anywhere to find a job after graduation because I am used to having to move for a job. I have tried looking into other healthcare careers, working as close to proximity as possible to really learn what field was for me. I worked as a therapy aide in a rehabilitation center, but I did not enjoy working in that field. I have worked as a pharmacy tech and I absolutely love working in a pharmacy, both compounding and retail. So, for me it is a no-brainer, I want to further pursue pharmacy and learn all I can learn. I also wanted to thank you for not being as harsh as some posters can be here on the forums.

In regards to the provider status, I do not necessarily want to be someone that is a provider. I was trying to learn more on the subject, gather other people's opinions. To me it almost seems like provider status is a waste. Doesn't CPA give the same thing and promotes more effective collaboration because pharmacists and physicians work more closely together on patient's care?

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I have a couple of questions about provider status and collaborative practice agreements. I am not in pharmacy school, but I do have an interview this Friday. I am trying to learn more about these topics to become better educated on the subject matter. I have looked up both, but I have ended up confusing myself instead.

Questions:
1) Are provider status and collaborative practice agreements the same thing?
2) Does a pharmacist with provider status have to be in a collaborative practice agreement in order to have provider status?
3) Has legislation passed to include pharmacists in the social security act to become providers in all 50 states?
4) Do most pharmacists agree with the need for provider status and most physicians disagree or is it that there is disagreement on what pharmacists should actually be able to provide service-wise?

I apologize for all of the questions. I am really interested in learning more. If accepted in pharmacy school I think that I would like to work in a more clinical setting (complete residency and hopefully work at a VA facility).

Thank you.

To be quite frank, you should do 3 things:

Contact a few State boards of Pharmacy and ask their opinions on provider status.

Contact a local college of pharmacy and ask if you can shadow an "Amb care" pharmacist.

Saturation aside,
Pharmacy suffers from extremely weak lobbying power, and low participation/interest from the CVS and WAGS drones that just want a paycheck.



To be frank, the kind of extremely rare specialty/work you're looking at is very boring.

If you're wanting to do residency and clinical work, you'd better be at a 4.0 with a 99 PCAT.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Provider status has more with the ability to bill insurance than collaboration. Like the above poster mentioned, this isnniche work. There is a small percentage of pharmacists who work as midlevels for comanagement of chronic diseases. I greatly enjoy the work though.

 

[deleted462159]

I have a couple of questions about provider status and collaborative practice agreements. I am not in pharmacy school, but I do have an interview this Friday. I am trying to learn more about these topics to become better educated on the subject matter. I have looked up both, but I have ended up confusing myself instead.

Questions:
1) Are provider status and collaborative practice agreements the same thing?
2) Does a pharmacist with provider status have to be in a collaborative practice agreement in order to have provider status?
3) Has legislation passed to include pharmacists in the social security act to become providers in all 50 states?
4) Do most pharmacists agree with the need for provider status and most physicians disagree or is it that there is disagreement on what pharmacists should actually be able to provide service-wise?

I apologize for all of the questions. I am really interested in learning more. If accepted in pharmacy school I think that I would like to work in a more clinical setting (complete residency and hopefully work at a VA facility).

Thank you.

1-3) No to all 3. Collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) are largely service-specific. It is mutually exclusive from provider status. For example, many states don't recognize pharmacists as providers, but under a CPA with a physician, they can administer vaccines and bill using the physician's NPI. Pharmacists in California are recognized as providers. But in the community setting, for many "clinical services" they need a protocol / CPA. Provider status is supposed to be a stamp of legitimacy that will allow for direct billing - but in itself, provider status doesn't mean that insurance companies need to cover those services provided by pharmacists (as is the case in CA).

4) Hard to generalize. Ask a few.
5) Don't apologize for asking questions. Good luck.

 

[PharmtoCS]

The idea of provider status has been pushed for decades, each time with a different name, with nothing to show for. Last decade it was called "MTM," and before that there was pharmaceutical care. 70% of the jobs are in a traditional retail dispensing setting and have always been, with about 20-25% in hospital dispensing. Don't go into pharmacy school unless if you are okay with taking a diepensing role.