2025 Southeastern Residency Conference

Title: Evaluation of the Impact of Medical Billing on Documentation and Patient Outcomes in an Independent Community Pharmacy Chain


Authors: Julissa Gonzalez, Hashan Bhim, Greg Peden, Courtney E. Gamston 


Background  
Community pharmacies play a crucial role in healthcare by offering educational and clinical services in addition to the dispensing of medications. The sustainability of community pharmacies is being jeopardized with 12.8% of community pharmacies closing nationwide from 2009 to 2015. As reimbursement for dispensing medications continues to decline, pharmacies must find additional sources of revenue. As the scope of pharmacists also continues to evolve, opportunities to provide patients with more comprehensive care through clinical pharmacy services in the community setting emerge. Provision of services necessitates consistent and comprehensive documentation which is currently lacking in the community setting. The purpose of this project is to assess the impact of the introduction of medical billing on documentation of care, performed interventions, patient care outcomes and estimated cost of savings within an independent pharmacy chain. 


Methods 
This was a retrospective review analyzing service records from an independent pharmacy chain in North Alabama comparing documentation of patient care activities during the six months before and after the implementation of medical billing (January 2024 through January 2025). Interventions were classified using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe Foundation (PCNE) classification of drug-related problems (DRP). Encounters with patients that were cancelled or never completed were excluded. T-test analyses were used to compare the number of interventions documented pre and post introduction of medical billing.


Results
In Progress.


Conclusions
In Progress.