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APhA Pharmacists Provide Care Advocacy Program.

 

We developed and executed a public affairs campaign to educate and engage pharmacists to ultimately achieve “provider status” recognition under federal law for America’s pharmacists.

Campaign videos garnered more than 100,000 views.

1073% increase in Facebook engagement and a 498% uptick in Twitter engagement.

6 in 10 pharmacists know about the campaign and 73% are likely to be involved.

The Challenge

Pharmacists are not currently recognized as healthcare providers under federal law, despite having more medication education and training than any other health care professional. This lack of federal recognition restricts the contributions pharmacists can make to improving patient care.

We developed and executed a public affairs campaign to educate and engage pharmacists on the issue, and ultimately achieve “provider status” recognition under federal law for America’s pharmacists.

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APhA Advocacy Program Case Study
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The Solution

We surveyed voters, APhA members and Washington opinion elites to gauge knowledge about the issue and test messages. We created the “Pharmacists Provide Care” national advocacy campaign, with distinct messages for multiple audiences and a suite of advocacy and communications materials, including a campaign website splash page to capture sign-ups and enable pharmacists to contact members of Congress.

We videotaped pharmacists from all 50 states discussing how they have provided critical patient care and with direct requests to their Members of Congress to support provider status legislation. We provided media training for APhA spokespersons, and our outreach to media garnered coverage in Beltway and national outlets. We wrote and placed op-eds in outlets such as The Hill, CQ Roll Call, the Des Moines Register.

The Results

The campaign videos garnered more than 100,000 views, as well as a 1073% increase in Facebook engagement and a 498% uptick in Twitter engagement. Pharmacists nationwide are now 30% more likely to be familiar with the issue; 6 in 10 know about the campaign and 73% are likely to or have become involved.

Overall, 20,000 supporters sent more than 24,000 communications to Congress during the campaign push, resulting in 296 cosponsors in the House and 51 cosponsors in the Senate on provider status legislation.

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