Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care

Challenges with primary care access and overextended providers present opportunities for pharmacists as patient care extenders for chronic disease management. The primary objective was to align primary care pharmacist services with organizational priorities and improve patient clinical outcomes. The...

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Main Authors: Katherine J. Hartkopf, Kristina M. Heimerl, Kayla M. McGowan, Brian G. Arndt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
Series:Pharmacy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/8/3/124
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author Katherine J. Hartkopf
Kristina M. Heimerl
Kayla M. McGowan
Brian G. Arndt
author_facet Katherine J. Hartkopf
Kristina M. Heimerl
Kayla M. McGowan
Brian G. Arndt
author_sort Katherine J. Hartkopf
collection DOAJ
description Challenges with primary care access and overextended providers present opportunities for pharmacists as patient care extenders for chronic disease management. The primary objective was to align primary care pharmacist services with organizational priorities and improve patient clinical outcomes. The secondary objective was to develop a technological strategy for service evaluation. An interdisciplinary workgroup developed primary care pharmacist services focused on improving performance measures and supporting the care team in alignment with ongoing population health initiatives. Pharmacist collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) were developed and implemented. An electronic dashboard was developed to capture service outcome measures. Blood pressure control to <140/90 mmHg was achieved in 74.15% of patients who engaged with primary care pharmacists versus 41.53% of eligible patients electing to follow usual care pathways. Appropriate statin use was higher in patients engaged with primary care pharmacists than in eligible patients electing to follow usual care pathways both for diabetes and ischemic vascular disease (12.4% and 2.2% higher, respectively). Seventeen of 54 possible process and outcome measures were identified and incorporated into an electronic dashboard. Primary care pharmacist services improve hypertension control and statin use. Service outcomes can be measured with discrete data from the electronic health record (EHR), and should align with organizational priorities.
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spelling doaj.art-6fa1e6a823254b53b9905052fc61607b2023-11-20T07:31:23ZengMDPI AGPharmacy2226-47872020-07-018312410.3390/pharmacy8030124Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary CareKatherine J. Hartkopf0Kristina M. Heimerl1Kayla M. McGowan2Brian G. Arndt3Department of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin Health, Madison, WI 53792, USADepartment of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin Health, Madison, WI 53792, USADepartment of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin Health, Madison, WI 53792, USADepartment of Family Medicine and Community Health, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USAChallenges with primary care access and overextended providers present opportunities for pharmacists as patient care extenders for chronic disease management. The primary objective was to align primary care pharmacist services with organizational priorities and improve patient clinical outcomes. The secondary objective was to develop a technological strategy for service evaluation. An interdisciplinary workgroup developed primary care pharmacist services focused on improving performance measures and supporting the care team in alignment with ongoing population health initiatives. Pharmacist collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) were developed and implemented. An electronic dashboard was developed to capture service outcome measures. Blood pressure control to <140/90 mmHg was achieved in 74.15% of patients who engaged with primary care pharmacists versus 41.53% of eligible patients electing to follow usual care pathways. Appropriate statin use was higher in patients engaged with primary care pharmacists than in eligible patients electing to follow usual care pathways both for diabetes and ischemic vascular disease (12.4% and 2.2% higher, respectively). Seventeen of 54 possible process and outcome measures were identified and incorporated into an electronic dashboard. Primary care pharmacist services improve hypertension control and statin use. Service outcomes can be measured with discrete data from the electronic health record (EHR), and should align with organizational priorities.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/8/3/124pharmacistprimary carecollaborative practice agreementpatient care extendercomprehensive medication managementquality improvement
spellingShingle Katherine J. Hartkopf
Kristina M. Heimerl
Kayla M. McGowan
Brian G. Arndt
Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care
Pharmacy
pharmacist
primary care
collaborative practice agreement
patient care extender
comprehensive medication management
quality improvement
title Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care
title_full Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care
title_fullStr Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care
title_full_unstemmed Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care
title_short Expansion and Evaluation of Pharmacist Services in Primary Care
title_sort expansion and evaluation of pharmacist services in primary care
topic pharmacist
primary care
collaborative practice agreement
patient care extender
comprehensive medication management
quality improvement
url https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/8/3/124
work_keys_str_mv AT katherinejhartkopf expansionandevaluationofpharmacistservicesinprimarycare
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AT kaylammcgowan expansionandevaluationofpharmacistservicesinprimarycare
AT briangarndt expansionandevaluationofpharmacistservicesinprimarycare