Pharmacist Collaborative Practice Agreements — for Facilitators

This collection of tools supports anyone interested in teaching pharmacists, providers, and other relevant public health practitioners about pharmacist collaborative practice agreements. It is part of the Public Health Law Academy (PHL Academy), which provides a deeper understanding of the use of law and policy to improve population health outcomes.

Start with our Pharmacist Collaborative Practice Agreements: Who, What, Why, & How training, then download and tailor the following resources for your specific audience:

• Facilitator's Checklist
• Facilitator's Guide that can be customized for your community
• Facilitator's Script that can be modified for your audience and speakers
• Slide Presentation that can be adapted to your unique training content

About This Training

Collaborative Practice Agreements (CPAs) create formal practice relationships between pharmacists and prescribers. CPAs can benefit collaborative care delivery by identifying what functions – in addition to the pharmacist’s typical scope of practice – are delegated to the pharmacist by the collaborating prescriber, under negotiated conditions outlined in the agreement.

While CPAs are not a prerequisite for collaborative care delivery, they can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of collaborative care delivery. When used to their full potential, CPAs have the ability to increase access to care, expand available services to patients, increase the efficiency and coordination of care, and leverage pharmacists’ medication expertise to complement the skills and knowledge of the other health care team members.

Although CPAs are currently authorized in 48 states and the District of Columbia, relatively few pharmacists are practicing with one. The goals of these training resources are to demonstrate the value of CPAs, explain their function, and decrease barriers to facilitate uptake.

Learning Objectives

Instructors can tailor these training materials to achieve the following learning objectives:

• Define collaborative practice agreements (CPA) and identify their role in providing team-based care.
• Describe when and how to use collaborative practice agreements in the outpatient setting.
• Consider approaches for developing a trusting relationship with another health care professional that may lead to the development of a CPA.
• Identify resources available for pharmacists looking to establish a CPA.