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APhA Policy Manual

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2026

Browse policies organized by category. Select a category to view the related policy statements.

5 categories • 23 policies

Competency and Training in Specific Areas

1 Policies
Professional Development and Leadership Benefits for Pharmacy Staff
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

  1. APhA calls upon all employers of pharmacy personnel to promote and support participation in professional development activities.
  2. APhA urges all employers of pharmacy personnel to include conference attendance as part of an employee’s compensation package, including allocated professional development days.
  3. APhA encourages employers to offer comprehensive benefits packages that promote positive workplace environments and cultures.
  4. APhA supports efforts to empower pharmacy personnel to advocate for compensated time for professional and leadership development, as well as benefits that align with their career goals.
  5. APhA encourages pharmacy personnel to seek guidance in self-advocating for employment benefits that align with their career goals.

2026

Immunizations

2 Policies
School-Entry Immunizations Requirements
PUBLIC HEALTH VACCINES

  1. APhA supports universal and consistent school-entry immunization requirements grounded in the best available evidence-based guidelines to protect the public’s health against vaccine-preventable disease.
  2. APhA supports exemptions from school-entry immunization requirements only when an evidence-based medical contraindication exists.

2026
Support of Immunizations Delivered by Pharmacies
PUBLIC HEALTH VACCINES

  1. APhA supports pharmacists practicing under a standard of care regulatory model for providing immunization services.
  2. APhA advocates for the sustained, equitable, and reliable availability of immunizations as a public health priority.
  3. APhA supports the development, implementation, and expansion of pharmacy-led public education initiatives that highlight the proven role of immunizations in preventing disease, saving lives, reducing health disparities, and strengthening community resilience.
  4. APhA champions full compensation by public and private insurers for pharmacy-provided immunization services, including the cost of the vaccine products and administration.
  5. APhA supports expanding the authority of pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians to increase immunization capacity nationwide.
  6. APhA supports the use of best existing evidence-based guidelines for immunization schedules.

2026

Other Employment Issues

2 Policies
Professional Development and Leadership Benefits for Pharmacy Staff
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

  1. APhA calls upon all employers of pharmacy personnel to promote and support participation in professional development activities.
  2. APhA urges all employers of pharmacy personnel to include conference attendance as part of an employee’s compensation package, including allocated professional development days.
  3. APhA encourages employers to offer comprehensive benefits packages that promote positive workplace environments and cultures.
  4. APhA supports efforts to empower pharmacy personnel to advocate for compensated time for professional and leadership development, as well as benefits that align with their career goals.
  5. APhA encourages pharmacy personnel to seek guidance in self-advocating for employment benefits that align with their career goals.

2026
Residency Training Working Conditions
EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

  1. APhA recognizes that pharmacy residents have a unique dual status as learners and employees and supports workplace protections to safeguard their education and well-being.
  2. APhA asserts that the primary purpose of residency training is intensive education that prepares residents for advanced practice.
  3. APhA supports protected educational time, appropriate supervision and support, progressive responsibility, and reasonable duty-hour and fatigue-mitigation safeguards.
  4. APhA supports transparent, equitable compensation for pharmacy residents that reflects the education-first purpose of training yet ensures economic viability through cost-of-living-adjusted wages, core benefits and paid leave, coverage of required professional expenses, and periodic review and adjustment tied to service intensity and institutional conditions.

2026

Pharmacy School Curriculum

2 Policies
Harmonizing Kidney Function Assessment for Medication-Related Decisions
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA supports the systematic transition from Cockcroft-Gault estimated creatinine clearance to race-free estimated glomerular filtration rate adjusted for body surface area (eGFRBSAadj) as the preferred kidney function measure to inform medication-related decision making in adults.
  2. APhA advocates for race-free eGFRBSAadj as the preferred standard for medication-related decision making for adults in PharmD curricula and licensing/board certification examinations.
  3. APhA encourages expanded research evaluating race-free eGFRBSAadj use in medication-related decision making in adults using measured GFR, drug concentrations, or pharmacokinetic modeling as a comparator, especially for subgroups of adults usually underrepresented in clinical trials.

2026
Primary Care in Pharmacy
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY PHARMACY PRACTICE REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists as providers of primary care services to address acute health issues, improve management of chronic disease, coordinate care, and provide preventive care.
  2. APhA advocates for government and private entities to add community pharmacy as a recognized place of service for the delivery of pharmacist-led primary care services
  3. APhA calls for payment parity for primary care services provided by a pharmacist through the patients’ medical benefit.
  4. APhA supports the application of the standard of care regulatory model to guide pharmacists’ delivery of primary care services.
  5. APhA supports increasing public awareness of pharmacist-led primary care services.

2026
Wearable Health Technology and Devices
AUTOMATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA supports the use of consumer-facing wearable health technologies and devices that are safe, effective, and appropriate for health and wellness.
  2. APhA advocates for research to drive evidence-based uses and payer policies for wearable health technologies and devices in patient care.
  3. APhA supports the pharmacists' role in interpreting data, and counseling patients on information derived from wearable health technology and devices.
  4. APhA encourages private and public entities to develop and implement standards for how patient health and wellness information is created, received, maintained, and transmitted by non-HIPAA covered entities and business associates.

2026
Medication Affordability
DRUG PRICING AND DISTRIBUTION PATIENT/PHARMACIST RELATIONSHIPS PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA advocates for laws, regulations, and policies that establish reasonable out-of-pocket patient costs for evidence-based, guideline-recommended, or standard of care therapies to enhance affordability and ensure access to appropriate treatments from a patient’s preferred pharmacy.
  2. APhA advocates for laws, regulations, and policies that allow for sustained access to evidence-based, guideline-recommended, or standard of care therapies after a patient has met treatment goals.

2026
Ensuring Access to Pharmacists' Services
FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND POLICIES PHARMACEUTICAL CARE PHARMACY PRACTICE RECORD SYSTEMS REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. Pharmacists are health care providers who must be recognized and compensated by payers for their professional services under medical benefit payment structures.
  2. APhA supports integration pharmacists' provision of health care services into existing standardized processes under the medical benefit.
  3. APhA affirms that pharmacists’ must be compensated for their services consistent with the processes of, and in parity with, other health care providers.
  4. APhA advocates for the development and implementation of a standardized credentialing process for compensation of pharmacist services.
  5. APhA advocates for pharmacists’ access and contribution to clinical and claims data to support treatment, payment, and health care operations.
  6. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists’ service level and outcome data with other health care provider and claims data.
  7. APhA advocates for the in-network inclusion of pharmacists under medical benefits to increase access to health care services.
  8. APhA opposes policies or practices that prevent or undermine billing for pharmacist-provided services under the medical benefit by any health plan, payer, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), or other entity.

2026
Medication Affordability
DRUG PRICING AND DISTRIBUTION PATIENT/PHARMACIST RELATIONSHIPS PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA advocates for laws, regulations, and policies that establish reasonable out-of-pocket patient costs for evidence-based, guideline-recommended, or standard of care therapies to enhance affordability and ensure access to appropriate treatments from a patient’s preferred pharmacy.
  2. APhA advocates for laws, regulations, and policies that allow for sustained access to evidence-based, guideline-recommended, or standard of care therapies after a patient has met treatment goals.

2026
Ensuring Access to Pharmacists' Services
FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND POLICIES PHARMACEUTICAL CARE PHARMACY PRACTICE RECORD SYSTEMS REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. Pharmacists are health care providers who must be recognized and compensated by payers for their professional services under medical benefit payment structures.
  2. APhA supports integration pharmacists' provision of health care services into existing standardized processes under the medical benefit.
  3. APhA affirms that pharmacists’ must be compensated for their services consistent with the processes of, and in parity with, other health care providers.
  4. APhA advocates for the development and implementation of a standardized credentialing process for compensation of pharmacist services.
  5. APhA advocates for pharmacists’ access and contribution to clinical and claims data to support treatment, payment, and health care operations.
  6. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists’ service level and outcome data with other health care provider and claims data.
  7. APhA advocates for the in-network inclusion of pharmacists under medical benefits to increase access to health care services.
  8. APhA opposes policies or practices that prevent or undermine billing for pharmacist-provided services under the medical benefit by any health plan, payer, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), or other entity.

2026
Addressing Structural Conflicts of Interest, Patient Safety, and Market Distortions by Pharmacy Benefit Managers
PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA supports structural, financial, and operational safeguards to address conflicts of interest between pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, and affiliated entities in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
  2. APhA supports policies that prohibit pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, and affiliated entities in the pharmaceutical supply chain from using ownership relationships to engage in patient steering, self-preferencing, discriminatory reimbursement, anticompetitive network design, or other practices that restrict patient choice, undermine pharmacy access, increase patient and total cost of care, or restrict access to clinically appropriate medications.
  3. APhA supports enforceable structural remedies when vertically integrated ownership arrangements create conflicts of interest that harm patients, pharmacies, competition, or the delivery of clinically appropriate care.
  4. APhA supports state and federal oversight, transparency, and enforcement authority to prevent anticompetitive and discriminatory business practices by vertically integrated pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, and affiliated entities.
  5. APhA supports preserving integrated care models that demonstrably improve patient care, access, affordability, and care coordination, provided they do not restrict patient choice, disadvantage competing pharmacies, or create unfair market conditions.

2026
Ensuring Access to Pharmacists' Services
FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND POLICIES PHARMACEUTICAL CARE PHARMACY PRACTICE RECORD SYSTEMS REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. Pharmacists are health care providers who must be recognized and compensated by payers for their professional services under medical benefit payment structures.
  2. APhA supports integration pharmacists' provision of health care services into existing standardized processes under the medical benefit.
  3. APhA affirms that pharmacists’ must be compensated for their services consistent with the processes of, and in parity with, other health care providers.
  4. APhA advocates for the development and implementation of a standardized credentialing process for compensation of pharmacist services.
  5. APhA advocates for pharmacists’ access and contribution to clinical and claims data to support treatment, payment, and health care operations.
  6. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists’ service level and outcome data with other health care provider and claims data.
  7. APhA advocates for the in-network inclusion of pharmacists under medical benefits to increase access to health care services.
  8. APhA opposes policies or practices that prevent or undermine billing for pharmacist-provided services under the medical benefit by any health plan, payer, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), or other entity.

2026
Harmonizing Kidney Function Assessment for Medication-Related Decisions
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA supports the systematic transition from Cockcroft-Gault estimated creatinine clearance to race-free estimated glomerular filtration rate adjusted for body surface area (eGFRBSAadj) as the preferred kidney function measure to inform medication-related decision making in adults.
  2. APhA advocates for race-free eGFRBSAadj as the preferred standard for medication-related decision making for adults in PharmD curricula and licensing/board certification examinations.
  3. APhA encourages expanded research evaluating race-free eGFRBSAadj use in medication-related decision making in adults using measured GFR, drug concentrations, or pharmacokinetic modeling as a comparator, especially for subgroups of adults usually underrepresented in clinical trials.

2026
Medication Affordability
DRUG PRICING AND DISTRIBUTION PATIENT/PHARMACIST RELATIONSHIPS PHARMACY PRACTICE

  1. APhA advocates for laws, regulations, and policies that establish reasonable out-of-pocket patient costs for evidence-based, guideline-recommended, or standard of care therapies to enhance affordability and ensure access to appropriate treatments from a patient’s preferred pharmacy.
  2. APhA advocates for laws, regulations, and policies that allow for sustained access to evidence-based, guideline-recommended, or standard of care therapies after a patient has met treatment goals.

2026
Primary Care in Pharmacy
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY PHARMACY PRACTICE REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists as providers of primary care services to address acute health issues, improve management of chronic disease, coordinate care, and provide preventive care.
  2. APhA advocates for government and private entities to add community pharmacy as a recognized place of service for the delivery of pharmacist-led primary care services
  3. APhA calls for payment parity for primary care services provided by a pharmacist through the patients’ medical benefit.
  4. APhA supports the application of the standard of care regulatory model to guide pharmacists’ delivery of primary care services.
  5. APhA supports increasing public awareness of pharmacist-led primary care services.

2026
Ensuring Access to Pharmacists' Services
FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND POLICIES PHARMACEUTICAL CARE PHARMACY PRACTICE RECORD SYSTEMS REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. Pharmacists are health care providers who must be recognized and compensated by payers for their professional services under medical benefit payment structures.
  2. APhA supports integration pharmacists' provision of health care services into existing standardized processes under the medical benefit.
  3. APhA affirms that pharmacists’ must be compensated for their services consistent with the processes of, and in parity with, other health care providers.
  4. APhA advocates for the development and implementation of a standardized credentialing process for compensation of pharmacist services.
  5. APhA advocates for pharmacists’ access and contribution to clinical and claims data to support treatment, payment, and health care operations.
  6. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists’ service level and outcome data with other health care provider and claims data.
  7. APhA advocates for the in-network inclusion of pharmacists under medical benefits to increase access to health care services.
  8. APhA opposes policies or practices that prevent or undermine billing for pharmacist-provided services under the medical benefit by any health plan, payer, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), or other entity.

2026
Ensuring Access to Pharmacists' Services
FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND POLICIES PHARMACEUTICAL CARE PHARMACY PRACTICE RECORD SYSTEMS REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. Pharmacists are health care providers who must be recognized and compensated by payers for their professional services under medical benefit payment structures.
  2. APhA supports integration pharmacists' provision of health care services into existing standardized processes under the medical benefit.
  3. APhA affirms that pharmacists’ must be compensated for their services consistent with the processes of, and in parity with, other health care providers.
  4. APhA advocates for the development and implementation of a standardized credentialing process for compensation of pharmacist services.
  5. APhA advocates for pharmacists’ access and contribution to clinical and claims data to support treatment, payment, and health care operations.
  6. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists’ service level and outcome data with other health care provider and claims data.
  7. APhA advocates for the in-network inclusion of pharmacists under medical benefits to increase access to health care services.
  8. APhA opposes policies or practices that prevent or undermine billing for pharmacist-provided services under the medical benefit by any health plan, payer, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), or other entity.

2026
Primary Care in Pharmacy
EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND COMPETENCE FOR PHARMACY PHARMACY PRACTICE REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION

  1. APhA supports the integration of pharmacists as providers of primary care services to address acute health issues, improve management of chronic disease, coordinate care, and provide preventive care.
  2. APhA advocates for government and private entities to add community pharmacy as a recognized place of service for the delivery of pharmacist-led primary care services
  3. APhA calls for payment parity for primary care services provided by a pharmacist through the patients’ medical benefit.
  4. APhA supports the application of the standard of care regulatory model to guide pharmacists’ delivery of primary care services.
  5. APhA supports increasing public awareness of pharmacist-led primary care services.

2026
Value of Research to Improve Health
RESEARCH

  1. APhA advocates for federal funding of scientific research and its infrastructure to improve health.
  2. APhA values the United States taking a leading role in biomedical, clinical, and health services research to improve health.

2026
School-Entry Immunizations Requirements
PUBLIC HEALTH VACCINES

  1. APhA supports universal and consistent school-entry immunization requirements grounded in the best available evidence-based guidelines to protect the public’s health against vaccine-preventable disease.
  2. APhA supports exemptions from school-entry immunization requirements only when an evidence-based medical contraindication exists.

2026
Support of Immunizations Delivered by Pharmacies
PUBLIC HEALTH VACCINES

  1. APhA supports pharmacists practicing under a standard of care regulatory model for providing immunization services.
  2. APhA advocates for the sustained, equitable, and reliable availability of immunizations as a public health priority.
  3. APhA supports the development, implementation, and expansion of pharmacy-led public education initiatives that highlight the proven role of immunizations in preventing disease, saving lives, reducing health disparities, and strengthening community resilience.
  4. APhA champions full compensation by public and private insurers for pharmacy-provided immunization services, including the cost of the vaccine products and administration.
  5. APhA supports expanding the authority of pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians to increase immunization capacity nationwide.
  6. APhA supports the use of best existing evidence-based guidelines for immunization schedules.

2026
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