COLLABORATIVE DRUG THERAPY AGREEMENT
Step 2: Establish ongoing communication mechanisms
Once pharmacies have expressed interest in a partnership, local health departments should develop a set of communication mechanisms that works well for their infrastructure and communities. Propose regularly scheduled events where partners can continue to receive updates on a routine basis.
- Consider holding an annual meeting or summit where you can engage all of your contacts into productive, facilitated discussions about partnering with your health department, educating them on your plans, and understanding their current barriers to becoming more involved.
- Establish a small, e.g., 5-7 member task force or steering committee comprised of contacts from these organizations who can be subject matter experts.
- Continue to recruit pharmacies to become part of the network of contacts. Make sure to continue to target community health clinics, long term care pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, commercial vaccinators, and hospital pharmacies in order to ensure that your planning efforts reach vulnerable populations and provide geographic coverage for your jurisdiction.
- Schedule conference calls at least quarterly with all contacts to inform them of recent updates. This can be an opportunity to provide updates as well as training on specific events. Such calls can be supplemented with regular email updates, as appropriate.
Public Health Seattle-King County held a summit on May 20, 2010. Find more information at: http://www.nwcphp.org/news-events/news-archives/pharmacy-leadership-summit-2010. You can access the materials from the summit at the end of this section.
