Pharmacist Perceptions and Willingness to Initiate COVID-19 Point-of-Care Testing in an Independent, Community Pharmacy Setting

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to analyze the perceptions held by 47 pharmacists in independent, community pharmacies on point-of-care COVID-19 testing in the 48 retail pharmacy setting by (1) assessing pharmacists' attitudes toward point-of-care testing, (2) 49 determining their potential strategies for providing COVID-19 point-of-care testing to patients, 50 and (3) identifying perceived barriers to initiation. 51 52 Methods: Eligible participants are pharmacists who maintain an active pharmacist license and 53 are currently practicing in a community pharmacy setting. The survey is part of a larger study of 54 South Carolina pharmacists. A 44-item survey was distributed to pharmacist managers in South 55 Carolina by mailing a postcard with a QR code to the online survey. Prior to the first question of 56 the survey, respondents were asked a screening question to ensure they met all inclusion 57 criteria. If the inclusion criteria were met based on the participant's answer to the screening 58 question, he or she were able to advance to the survey. Descriptive statistics were used to 59 analyze respondent demographics and the survey items, including multiple-choice, select all 60 that apply, and free response questions. The questions in the 5-point Likert scale formatting 61 were analyzed by calculating the mean response for each item. Factors associated with 62 willingness to implement COVID-19 point-of-care testing will be analyzed by differentiating 63 participants into groups based on pharmacist and practice site characteristics and the existence 64 of the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network's (CPESN) required, core services 65 within the practice. A Pearson correlation was calculated to determine if there was a 66 statistically significant correlation between enhanced pharmacy status and pharmacists 67 responses to questions regarding patient-related factors, testing follow-up, and operations68 related factors. 69 70 Results: The results presented here are preliminary as data collection is still ongoing. From the 71 current sample, there was a statistically significant correlation between CPESN enhanced 72 pharmacy status and both the patient-related factors and testing follow-up categories (p73 value=0.005 and 0.012, respectfully). Respondents working within single-store independent 74 pharmacies reported possessing a CLIA waiver more often than other practice settings. 75 76 Conclusion: Community-based pharmacists who have experience executing other enhanced 77 services like medication synchronization and medication therapy management seem most 78 willing to implement COVID-19 POC testing and report fewer barriers to implementation.