"MeRIT Project": Novel Interprofessional Collaboration for Effective Primary Care

Introduction:  Two recent regulatory changes create a unique opportunity to investigate innovative models of primary care services in Minnesota: 1) advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) are no longer required to maintain a collaborative management plan and written prescribing agreement with a physician, and 2) pharmacists may prescribe medications under collaborative agreements with APRNs. These changes will influence future practice and should be studied to identify best methods for creating effective APRN-pharmacist teams.

Objectives:  To develop effective practices for interprofessional patient visits performed by APRN-Pharmacist teams. Through stakeholder assessments—including patients, providers and University leadership—we will develop and optimize the practice of this partnership.

Study Design:  Prospective mixed methods study

Methods:  Surveys will be used to evaluate patient assessment and semi-structured interviews will be used to gauge provider and University leadership assessments.

Results:  (anticipated)Based on anecdotal feedback, it is expected that the patient experience of their clinical visit will be enhanced through the APRN-Pharmacist team. We expect University leadership will be driven by quality care, sustainability, and innovations.

Conclusions: (anticipated) This study is ongoing. Results of the study will allow for the development of optimized APRN-pharmacist teams