Pharmacy Telehealth Services Needs Assessment

Use the questions and resources below to evaluate your current services, understand patient and organizational needs, identify gaps in care delivery, and prioritize opportunities for telehealth growth.


Identify Current Clinical Pharmacy Services

Document roles and responsibilities of clinical pharmacists, services offered (e.g., MTM, transitions of care, educational programs), modalities of care (in-person, video, telephone, chart review), regulatory and policy environment, technology capabilities and existing collaborations with other healthcare providers.

Key Questions

  1. What are your organization's strategic priorities for the next 1-3 years?
  2. What are your existing clinical pharmacy telehealth services and associated outcomes? (access, quality, cost savings, etc.)
  3. What are your existing telehealth technology infrastructure and electronic health record capabilities?
  4. What are telehealth pharmacy regulations for your state?
  5. What are the telehealth reimbursement rates for clinical pharmacy services in your organization? (Medicare, Medicaid, commercial payers)
  6. Where is telehealth being offered in your organization by other healthcare providers?

Understand Patient Population Demographics

Analyze demographic data such as age, gender, socio-economic status, and prevalent health conditions in the patient population served by your organization and where opportunities exist to increase access to pharmacist care through telehealth services.

Key Questions

  1. What patient populations do you serve and are they located in a pharmacy desert or underserved areas?
  2. What percentage of your patient population has multiple chronic conditions, complex medication regimens (≥5 medications), suboptimal disease control (uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia), medication adherence challenges, high emergency department or hospitals admission rates?
  3. What are current barriers that limit access to in-person pharmacy services in your organization (rurality lending to high drive times, transportation barriers, work constraints, mobility limitations, etc.)?
  4. What is your patient's digital literacy and technology access status?

Create a Gap Analysis

Analyze existing services and unmet organizational and patient needs to determine strategic direction for telehealth service growth.

Key Questions

  1. What clinical pharmacy services are currently not available via telehealth that could benefit our patient population? Are there clusters of high-need patients (polypharmacy, uncontrolled conditions, medication adherence challenges) that remain unserved?
  2. What modalities (video, phone, asynchronous, etc.) are underutilized or missing within our telehealth pharmacy services?
  3. Are our current telehealth platforms, EHR systems, and digital tools sufficient to support new or expanded pharmacy telehealth services?
  4. Do our staff and patients have adequate access to necessary devices, internet connectivity, and technical support?
  5. Are there current state or federal regulatory barriers limiting our ability to provide telehealth services (e.g., licensure, scope of practice, prescribing laws)?
  6. Are billing/reimbursement policies supportive of sustainable growth in pharmacy telehealth, or are there gaps in coverage that need advocacy?
  7. Which demographic groups or geographic regions within our patient population are least likely to access in-person pharmacy services and could benefit most from telehealth?
  8. Where are there missed opportunities for collaboration and care coordination with other health providers through telehealth platforms?
Telehealth


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