Intermountain Health Enables Virtual Prescriptions of Birth Control

Following adjustments to Utah law related to birth control prescribing, Intermountain Health created a program that allows pharmacists to virtually prescribe self-administered forms of birth control.

Laws surrounding the ability of pharmacists to prescribe birth control vary from state to state. According to Guttmacher Institute, although 25 states and Washington DC allow pharmacists to provide contraceptives, others do not.

A recent change in Utah law led to registered pharmacists gaining the ability to prescribe basic hormonal contraceptives, free of the need to visit the doctor.

Following this change, Intermountain Healthcare created a program that merged mailed prescription services and telehealth. This program aims to enhance access to birth control for women in Utah with limited risk for complications.

To use the virtual birth control prescription services, the patient must first fill out an online form indicating medical history. A pharmacist will then communicate with the patient via telephone and mail the prescription to the patient. If the pharmacist discovers red flags within a patient's medical records, they can direct them to a doctor. The virtual visit costs $20.

Sean Esplin, MD, senior medical director for women’s health at Intermountain Health, emphasized that pharmacists are qualified to perform these tasks.

“Pharmacists complete six years of education and have a wealth of specialized knowledge about medication and its various uses, management and dosing, as well as how medications can interact with each other,” said Esplin in a press release.

Intermountain Health also emphasized various benefits they expect from this program. A primary benefit would be the burden it would remove from providers. By allowing pharmacists to handle these tasks, obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives, and nurse practitioners would have additional time for more urgent matters.

Other benefits include direct shipping of medication to a patient following approval. Also, certain insurers will pay for telehealth evaluation and prescription.

“Our biggest goal is to improve healthcare access for patients at a lower cost and this new program does both,” said Carrie Dunford, chief pharmacy officer for Intermountain Health, in the press release. “This will make care more convenient for our patients and ensure women anywhere in the state have timely access.”

Regulations allowing pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives are growing and have taken place in many regions.

In September 2022, for example, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state would expand pharmacist prescribing authority. A primary reason for this action was to sustain access to reproductive care, particularly following the Supreme Court decision to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling.

Alongside the virtual prescribing of birth control, efforts that enable virtual medication abortions are growing. According to research, these services led to high satisfaction among patients.

A study from the University of Washington School of Medicine aimed to determine how patient satisfaction with telehealth compares to in-person care when obtaining medication abortions. Between the two cohorts receiving care through one of these modalities, researchers found that those who participated in telehealth were more relaxed. On the other hand, the in-person group claimed that their visits were long, chaotic, and uncomfortable.