Assessing Community Pharmacists’ Perception on Readiness to Initiate Point-of-Care Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in New York State During the Pandemic

Introduction: Pursuant to the COVID-19 pandemic, an executive order issued by the New York State (NYS) governor allowed pharmacists to act as laboratory directors for a limited-service laboratory (LSL) to order and perform Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA)-waived COVID-19 point-of-care testing (POCT). Objectives: To (i) assess the status of NYS community pharmacists with POCT in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) assess the readiness and willingness of community pharmacists to incorporate COVID-19 POCT into their workflow during a pandemic, and (iii) assess community pharmacists’ perception of the barrier to initiating COVID-19 POCT. Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study conducted from February 4 to February 21, 2021. An electronic survey consisting of 66 Likert-type questions, select all that apply, and fill-in-style questions were emailed to 250 Community Pharmacy Enhanced Service Network (CPESN) NY pharmacies, with a follow-up email sent halfway into the data collection period. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The result indicated that most participants (median = 5) demonstrated readiness and willingness to offer COVID-19 testing. Barriers to COVID-19 POCT were identified: impact on pharmacy workflow (59%), lack of payment mechanism (55%) and lack of sufficient training (21%). Most participants expressed interest in continuing POCT beyond the pandemic (86.1%). Conclusion: Community pharmacists in NYS reported willingness to initiate COVID-19 POCT. Addressing the identified barriers, such as workflow disruption and reimbursement challenges, will enable pharmacies to be better prepared to provide patient care, including POCT.