Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director awarded the University of Montana $727,781 under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310) on July 15, 2026, to examine the impacts of pharmacy-based preventive services (PPS) in pediatric populations. The research will leverage cross-state variation in PPS policies and policy changes over time to determine whether allowing pharmacists to deliver preventive services—including screenings, anticipatory guidance, counseling, and clinical and behavioral interventions—has meaningfully increased preventive service utilization among children and adolescents or merely displaced care from medical homes to pharmacy settings. The project addresses a critical gap in evidence, as most data supporting PPS policy expansions derive from adult populations, and pediatric outcomes remain poorly quantified despite growing concerns among clinicians that pharmacy-based care could put children at risk of missing essential well-child visits.

The five-year project, with ultimate completion targeted for June 30, 2031, will produce a national study analyzing whether PPS policies have impacted rates of pediatric well-child care visits—a key metric given the importance of preventive care in reducing childhood chronic disease burden and supporting child and adolescent health development. The research will be conducted at the University of Montana's Missoula campus and will generate empirical evidence to inform state-level policy decisions regarding pharmacist scope of practice in pediatric preventive care delivery.