Pharmacy Technicians Could Enhance Public Health by Becoming ‘Vaccine Champions’
Researchers suggest that vaccine champion programs could be a promising avenue to increasing immunization rates.
Integrating pharmacy technicians into vaccination strategies may help increase uptake and enhance public health, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.1 The authors of the study said the findings highlight a promising avenue to increase immunization rates in community pharmacy settings.
Pharmacy Technicians Could Enhance Public Health by Becoming ‘Vaccine Champions’ / lubero - stock.adobe.com
According to a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, only 38% of US adults say they definitely plan to get a flu vaccine in 2024.2 And the numbers for other vaccines are not any better: only 26% said they will definitely get an updated COVID-19 vaccine, and only 21% of people for who it is recommended said they will definitely get an RSV vaccine. Increasing these rates of immunizations is critical to public health.
READ MORE: Kindergarten Vaccination Coverage Hits New Low as Exemptions Increase
Since the 2020 passage of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, which gave pharmacy technicians the ability to administer vaccines, research has shown the positive benefits. Making pharmacy technicians “vaccine champions,” someone who works to improve the delivery of evidence-based care, may be another way to help increase vaccine uptake.3
“The use of [vaccine champions] has shown benefit in medical clinics, particularly in increasing vaccination rates and addressing hesitancy,” the authors wrote. “Studies in primary care settings have demonstrated that integrating [vaccine champions] significantly improved Human Papilloma Virus vaccination rates.However, research is limited regarding the application of this model in community pharmacies.”
Investigators from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill conducted a study to assess the effect of a vaccine champion program on vaccination rates and vaccine-related tasks within a community pharmacy’s organizational context. Researchers developed the program, which was called VaxChamp, and implemented it at 6 community pharmacies in North Dakota that varied in location and staffing.
The VaxChamp program involved having the participating pharmacies choose 1 technician to serve as a vaccine champion, which required them to complete 5 hours of vaccine-related tasks each week. The designated pharmacy technicians completed self-paced training modules on use of the state vaccine registry, CDC best practices for vaccine storage and handling, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services best practices for vaccine billing.
The pharmacists in charge and the vaccine champions also completed a survey before and after the program was implemented on pharmacy characteristics, including location, average daily prescriptions, staffing ratios, hours of operation, and vaccines offered. Additionally, the survey for the pharmacist in charge included questions about the program, such as workflow changes, changes in vaccination rates, and perceived profitability.
Investigators found that of the 5 pharmacies who offered pneumococcal vaccines, 3 saw an increase in administrations and 1 saw a decline. Two pharmacies offered the Hepatitis B vaccine and both saw an increase in administrations. Shingles vaccine administration increased at 1 pharmacy but declined in 5 others. There was no significant change in vaccine administrations seen in any of the pharmacies. However, the vaccine champions were often not the primary person administering vaccines.
The vaccine champions played diverse roles within their pharmacies and supported vaccine efforts by managing tasks such as prospective patient identification and post-immunization billing. The pharmacists in charge said that increasing technician responsibilities was critical to enhancing pharmacy workflow and immunization rates. Additionally, the vaccine champions said the program enhanced their proactive vaccine efforts.
“Integrating pharmacy technicians into comprehensive immunization workflow by serving as VaxChamps remains a promising avenue for increasing vaccine rates in the community pharmacy setting and enhancing public health outcomes,” the authors concluded. “Furthermore, attending to the contextual factors that encourage or inhibit service implementation can help us understand how best to support community pharmacies interested in implementing their own VaxChamp program.”
READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center
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