How Community Pharmacies Help Patients Quit Smoking

In an interview with Pharmacy Times for the Pharmacy Focus podcast, Cindy Valencia, PhD, MPH, the director of CA Quits at UC Davis Health Center for Healthcare Policy and Research, and Robin Corelli, PharmD, a professor of clinical pharmacy in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy’s School of Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, discussed a qualitative study on integrating community health workers (CHWs) into community pharmacies to support tobacco cessation. The study examined seven independent California pharmacies that had trained pharmacy technicians and clerks as CHWs and expanded the model to include tobacco treatment, exploring the barriers and facilitators to integrating these services.¹

Valencia and Corelli framed community pharmacies as among the most accessible points of care, noting that most Americans live within 5 miles of one and that technicians often reflect the communities they serve, speak the language, and hold trusted relationships that position them to help patients navigate quitting. A central finding was that the CHW model largely formalizes work pharmacy teams were already doing, giving technicians training, structure, and a covered benefit for services such as social needs screening, care navigation, and follow-up.

Both emphasized that the Medi-Cal CHW benefit, which allows pharmacist supervision, is critical to sustaining programs that have historically come and gone with grant funding. They were candid about barriers: credentialing delays of 3 to 6 months or longer, billing processes unfamiliar to pharmacists, inconsistent payer requirements, and pharmacy software not designed for medical claims. Facilitators included starting with a single service to build staff confidence, health plan champions who helped navigate implementation, and collaborative peer networks that shared forms and workflows.

For pharmacists, the conversation underscores a clearly expanding role for technicians and a clear sustainability case tied to reimbursement. To scale beyond early adopters, the guests called for simplified implementation, payer buy-in, and supportive legislation ensuring services are reimbursed.

REFERENCE

1. Valencia C, Corelli R, Tu S, Gosdin MM, Tong EK. Building tobacco treatment capacity and sustainability: A qualitative study on the implementation of community pharmacy technicians as community health workers. Pharmacy. 2026;14(5):114. doi:10.3390/pharmacy14050114