Implementation of a vaccine screening program at an independent community pharmacy

To implement a comprehensive vaccine screening program and to identify best practices in workflow for a vaccine screening program.

Five independent community pharmacy locations with a common owner.

Moose Pharmacy is an independent family owned and operated pharmacy in rural North Carolina. Moose Pharmacy has 5 dispensing pharmacy locations that fill from 750 to 2800 prescriptions weekly. Each pharmacy regularly uses clinical pharmacists and pharmacy residents to provide comprehensive patient care.

A vaccine screening tool and documentation form were developed by the authors based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for immunizations that may be pharmacist administered by protocol in North Carolina.

A pharmacy team member used the screening tool to identify vaccination opportunities in the patient population. Patients 18 years of age or older who entered the pharmacy workflow process were eligible for screening.

If pharmacy staff identified needed vaccinations for a patient, a pharmacist evaluated the screening and recommended immunization(s) to the patient. If the recommendation was accepted, the vaccine was administered. If the patient declined vaccination, a brief reason was designated from a predefined selection of choices.

During the 30-day study period, 631 screenings were performed. Pharmacy technicians and pharmacists performed 95.4% and 4.6% of screenings, respectively. Of completed screenings, 81.5% were completed at data entry, 13.9% at fill station, 4.1% at prescription verification, and 0.5% during a clinical consultation. As a result of this study the following vaccines were administered: influenza (n = 11), pneumococcal conjugate (n = 5), pneumococcal polysaccharide (n = 1), Tdap (n = 5), and zoster (n = 6).

A comprehensive vaccine screening tool was successfully used by pharmacy technicians and pharmacists at data entry and fill station during the traditional workflow at an independent community pharmacy.