ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is partnering with the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin to advance a new practice model for improving patient access to quality and efficient care and extending pharmacy in a broader health care setting.

The pilot project, Advancing Community Pharmacy Quality: Leveraging Tech-Check-Tech to Expand Patient Care Services in Community Pharmacies, aims to promote better access to patient care. Specifically, the pilot will examine a new practice model that fosters collaboration across health care settings and employs an enhanced operational model.

A key component of this model involves trained and validated pharmacy technicians completing the final check of a prescription filled by another technician, a pharmacy technician verification process known as tech-check-tech (TCT). This process allows pharmacists to reinvest the time saved by providing direct patient care services such as immunizations, disease state testing and medication therapy management.

“NACDS is pleased to partner with the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin on this project, which utilizes the full potential of pharmacists’ skills and shows great promise for improving patient access to care and health care outcomes,” said NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson. “Pharmacists are well positioned to meet the growing demand for health care services, and this project provides a proving ground to demonstrate the collaborative role pharmacy is able to play in an evolving health care system.”