The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ House of Delegates approved 16 new policies during its June meeting. The policies will guide ASHP’s advocacy work and are aimed at shaping pharmacy practice going forward, according to a July 21 news release.
Several of the new policies focus on protecting and expanding the pharmacy workforce’s role in public health. One calls for pharmacists to take a leadership role in improving vaccine access, superseding ASHP’s prior policy on the subject. Another addresses the pharmacy workforce’s role in countering public health disinformation and misinformation, while a separate policy takes on a newer threat: unauthorized synthetic media, including AI-generated deepfakes, targeting pharmacy staff.
Other policies address the mechanics of practice and training. One sets a regulatory model for standard of care in pharmacy. Others cover safe and effective compounding, quality of pharmacy education and career fulfillment in the profession, the latter aimed at workforce retention amid ongoing burnout concerns.
The remaining policies span environmental sustainability in healthcare, body size inclusivity, pharmacists’ right of conscience balanced against patients’ right to access therapy, FDA’s public health role, tobacco and nicotine cessation, long-acting injectable antipsychotics, combination antibiotic dosing, evidence-based medicine and technology vendor accountability in health-system pharmacy.
The full text and rationale for each policy is available in ASHP’s policy database.
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