Ford Research Group
ICTR Pipeline Pharmacy Outreach to Expand Injectable Naltrexone Services Project
Past project
This project built on our prior research on injectable naltrexone to leverage the UW pharmacy research network (PEARLRx) and the resources of the ICTR Dissemination & Implementation Launchpad (D&I Launchpad). The purpose of this project was to develop marketing materials and identify communication strategies to promote the benefits of pharmacy-provided injectable naltrexone services.
As part of our effort to develop outreach materials and communication strategies for community pharmacists, we interviewed pharmacists and medical providers who prescribe injectable naltrexone, including physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, to elicit information about marketing pharmacist-provided injectable naltrexone for opioid use disorder.
Based on provider feedback, we developed an Injectable Naltrexone Brochure for pharmacists to use when marketing their injectable naltrexone service to providers and clinics. The brochure is provided as a downloadable Word document so pharmacies can customize it by inserting their pharmacy logo and contact information.
To learn more about marketing and outreach and to see clips from our interviews please go to Referral Relationships. Our team continues to work on additional outreach materials, communication strategies, and dissemination activities.
In 2019, approximately 1.6 million people nationally were diagnosed with an opioid use disorder (OUD).1 OUD represents a chronic illness where individuals experience patterns of treatment and abstinence followed by continued use and relapse.2-4 People with OUD face significant risks of harms such as overdose and death. The current opioid epidemic is a major public health challenge in Wisconsin (WI). From 2014 to 2019, Emergency Department overdose admissions in WI increased 69.4% (25.9 to 43.9 per 100,000) while mortality rates increased 45.6% (10.9 to 15.9 per 100,000) over the same period.5
Currently available pharmacotherapies are included in gold-standard OUD treatments as they reduce the negative consequences of OUD such as overdose mortality and criminal justice system involvement.6-8 OUD treatment also ideally includes psychosocial treatments (e.g., counseling and education, often provided by a behavioral health professional) alongside FDA-approved medications, including injectable extended-release naltrexone (called Vivitrol®). While access to treatment is crucial to confronting the opioid epidemic,9-12 national estimates suggest that only 15-18% of individuals with an OUD are treated with an FDA-approved medication,1, 13 with WI estimates being even lower (12.3%).14 This access gap is troublesome given the empirical evidence that medications for OUD (MOUD) and managing care with MOUD is more effective and less costly than treatment as usual.6-8,13, 15 Clearly, MOUD use has not kept pace with OUD diagnoses and new approaches are needed to improve access to MOUD and ultimately address the underutilization of FDA-approved medications for the treatment of OUD.
To develop marketing materials and identify communication strategies to promote the benefits of pharmacy-provided IN. The materials, which will highlight the benefits of partnerships (e.g., medication knowledge) with pharmacist to provide IN, would be utilized by pharmacists to promote the availability of an IN service to prescribers in the community.
We will conduct an initial literature search (using academic, grey, and commercial sources) to identify existing marketing materials and/or successful communication strategies associated with an IN service. The exploration will focus broadly on pharmacy-delivered services. Any identified literature will be reviewed, and common themes identified. Prior interviews will also be reviewed to identify any mentions of successful outreach efforts. This information will be utilized to develop interview guides for the two stakeholder groups.
Once interview guides have been developed, semi-structured stakeholder interviews or focus groups will be used to solicit input on the appropriate messaging and dissemination channels to increase prescriber utilization of pharmacies to provide IN to their patients. We will recruit 3 to 6 pharmacists from Group 1 currently offering IN and an additional 3 to 6 pharmacists whose pharmacy is interested in offering the IN service. From Group 2, we will recruit 3 to 6 prescribers. The interviews will be designed to focus on topics such as what information about pharmacist provided IN services is needed to highlight the benefits of the services to prescribers, best approaches for sharing this information widely with prescribers, and information needed for prescribers to establish a referral relationship with a community pharmacy.