For Californians who are living with diabetes, HIV, or any other chronic disease, a COVID-19 diagnosis rings alarm bells. Immunocompromised individuals, seniors, and other vulnerable populations are at heightened risk for severe complications from COVID-19, making immediate treatment and care critical.
Californians at severe risk rely on pharmacists to get tested and treated for COVID-19 quickly and without barriers that may otherwise exist to access care. But if policymakers in Sacramento and Washington don’t act, communities in San Diego and across our state may experience hurdles to protect themselves from COVID-19 this fall and winter.
In my 30 years working in a San Diego pharmacy, I’ve witnessed firsthand how pivotal pharmacists are to the well-being of our communities. I’ve seen pharmacists navigate the challenges of the HIV epidemic to protect immunocompromised individuals.
I’ve worked with our pharmacists over decades to help patients manage hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic conditions and navigate insurance barriers to help our neighbors access their medication. And most recently, I’ve been part of the resilient efforts by pharmacists here and across our state to battle COVID-19, delivering tests, vaccines, and treatments to patients.
Today, over 5,600 pharmacies provide prompt care and services to Californians, including many small community and independent pharmacies like the ones I help operate here in San Diego. Patients look to us as a primary source of care and rely on pharmacists when other options don’t exist.
When hurdles get in our way, pharmacists simply find a workaround to meet a patient’s needs. Whether it’s managing insurance issues to ensure medication access, completing requests to stock shelves with the right treatments, or going out into the community amid a lockdown, pharmacists will do it for those here in San Diego or elsewhere in our state.
But when we put those hurdles aside, California pharmacists still face numerous challenges to provide the best care to our customers. Amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, some of those stark realities are becoming pressing issues that could prevent pharmacies from delivering for patients in need.
First, the clock is ticking in California. An emergency order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom that enabled pharmacists to administer tests, vaccines, and treatments for COVID-19 expired, and funding for a COVID-19 test-to-treat initiative is drying up. In the absence of state action, patients could find it more challenging to access tests and treatment for COVID-19 this fall.
Second, pharmacists and other providers still face the burden of requesting COVID-19 therapeutics through a portal that’s hard to use. The infrastructure behind the Health Partner Order Portal requires pharmacists and other providers to jump through administrative hoops to request, order, and report the usage of COVID-19 therapeutics, all outside of the normal pharmacy workflow to support their customers.
Where these challenges persist for patients and their pharmacists, policymakers in Sacramento and Washington have the authority to empower pharmacists to deliver immediate care to protect communities from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Today, Assembly Bill 1341 sits on Newsom’s desk. If signed, it would codify the ability of practicing pharmacists to provide tests and treatment to patients with COVID-19 without delay.
In Washington, the Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to streamline the ordering portal system to make it easier for pharmacies and other providers to request COVID-19 antiviral treatment, stock their shelves, and provide them to patients at the moment they need them.
In neighborhoods across California, community and independent pharmacies will continue to do all they can in their power to provide for their communities. But we need Newsom and leaders in Washington to pave the way for pharmacists to deliver the most effective care to protect Californians from COVID-19 and other public health threats.
Ivy Rooney works with multiple independent pharmacies in San Diego and was the former CEO of Hillcrest Pharmacy before opening Ivy Pharmacy. She is a lifelong resident of California.
