Poster 86 - Improving Access to LAI Behavioral Health Medications in the Community: A Collaborative Model Between Psychiatric Providers and Community Pharmacists
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
1:15 PM - 1:45 PM MDT
Location: Screen 2, Exhibit Hall Poster Pavilion
This session will describe how Alliance Health (a North Carolina Medicaid Tailored Plan serving persons with serious mental illness, substance use disorder and/or intellectual developmental disability) and the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists have partnered with community pharmacies and community psychiatrists to demonstrate the benefits of a collaborative service model offering LAI for behavioral health medications to expand patient access to care, while determining a reasonable and sustainable reimbursement rate for pharmacies providing the service.
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe changes in pharmacist scope of practice that allow administration of prescribed long-acting injections (LAIs) to patients.
2. Identify specific advanced pharmacist training required to provide this service, including closed-loop communication with providers, and how providers can locate and engage pharmacies offering this and related services
3. Demonstrate how this collaboration model expands options for LAI medication access in the community for persons with behavioral health illness, while also supporting telehealth and rural care delivery.
