Pharmacist-led Chronic Care Management Benefits Underserved Rural Patients

A pharmacist-led chronic care management practice model reduced A1c levels and boosted the number of clinical encounters and office visits for traditionally underserved patients in a rural clinic. Researchers published their findings in the Journal of Pharmacy Practice.

“Chronic care management can significantly impact the management of chronic diseases in rural patient populations,” wrote Andrew S Tenpas, PharmD, department of pharmacy practice, A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, and coinvestigators. “To date, few practice models have addressed its impact on clinical outcomes and access to care in rural practice settings.”

The pharmacist-led practice model was implemented at a rural, medically underserved family medicine clinic, and 46 patients received services from October 2020 through May 2021. At 3- and 6-month intervals, researchers used clinical data to measure A1c and systolic blood pressure and observe changes in patient outcomes.

Mean A1c was reduced by 1.07% (95% CI -1.70 to -.44, P = .0016) for patients who had a chronic care management encounter or office visit in the first 3 months following the model’s implementation. At 6 months, patients experienced a mean A1c reduction of 1.64% (95% CI -2.35 to -.92, P < .001).

Additionally, clinical encounters increased by 73.8% in the 6 months following patient enrollment compared to the 6 months preceding the model’s implementation.

Dr Tenpas and coauthors concluded the chronic care management practice model improved outcomes and allowed “for more frequent engagement between ambulatory pharmacists and traditionally challenging rural patients.”

Reference:
Tenpas AS, Vascimini A, Westwood G, Morris E, Dietrich E, DeRamer C. Improvement in clinical outcomes and access to care with pharmacist-led chronic care management services at a rural family medicine clinic. J Pharm Pract. Published online ahead of print August 7, 2022. doi:10.1177/08971900221118232