The Effect of a Novel Proactive First Day Prescription Counseling Program on Adherence to Select Cardiovascular Medications

Objective: To determine the impact of a proactive first day prescription counseling program on medication adherence to new cardiovascular maintenance medicationsDesign: Cross-sectional studySetting: Regional chain community pharmacy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; August 2009 through November 2010Patients: Data was collected from all patients aged 18-89 presenting with a new or transferred prescription or change in dosage within the study dates at four study locationsInterventions: Patients presenting with a new or transferred prescription or change in dosage were identified to receive pharmacist or student pharmacist counseling. Data from the counseling session was tracked weekly to determine if the program increased adherence to statins, ACEIs and/or ARBs.Main Outcome Measured: Adherence to statins, ACEIs and/or ARBs was determined by differences in proportion of days covered (PDC) at six months and medication persistence to therapy.Results: Analysis was conducted using IDNA sm software. Results of the 6,916 prescriptions included in the study revealed that persistence rates for statins was 32.5% (intervention) and 34.2% (control) (p<0.001); ACEI/ARBs persistence was 37.3% (intervention) and 43.2% (control) (p<0.001). PDC was nonsignificant with respect to statins; 43.2% (intervention) and 45.1% (control); and 50.2% (intervention) and 57.1% (control) (p<0.001) for the ACEI/ARBs.Conclusion: Results from this study showed no improvement in adherence of statins or ACEIs/ARBs with the D1TC program versus control pharmacies, although several important limitations were identified. It is clear that a variety of methods and programs are needed to consistently improve adherence to maintenance medications

The Effect of a Novel Proactive First Day Prescription Counseling Program on Adherence to Select Cardiovascular Medications

Objective: To determine the impact of a proactive first day prescription counseling program on medication adherence to new cardiovascular maintenance medications Design: Cross-sectional study Setting: Regional chain community pharmacy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; August 2009 through November 2010 Patients: Data was collected from all patients aged 18-89 presenting with a new or transferred prescription or change in dosage within the study dates at four study locations Interventions: Patients presenting with a new or transferred prescription or change in dosage were identified to receive pharmacist or student pharmacist counseling. Data from the counseling session was tracked weekly to determine if the program increased adherence to statins, ACEIs and/or ARBs. Main Outcome Measured: Adherence to statins, ACEIs and/or ARBs was determined by differences in proportion of days covered (PDC) at six months and medication persistence to therapy. Results: Analysis was conducted using IDNA sm software. Results of the 6,916 prescriptions included in the study revealed that persistence rates for statins was 32.5% (intervention) and 34.2% (control) (p<0.001); ACEI/ARBs persistence was 37.3% (intervention) and 43.2% (control) (p<0.001). PDC was nonsignificant with respect to statins; 43.2% (intervention) and 45.1% (control); and 50.2% (intervention) and 57.1% (control) (p<0.001) for the ACEI/ARBs. Conclusion: Results from this study showed no improvement in adherence of statins or ACEIs/ARBs with the D1TC program versus control pharmacies, although several important limitations were identified. It is clear that a variety of methods and programs are needed to consistently improve adherence to maintenance medications

Health-system implementation of a collaborative core curriculum for advanced pharmacy experiential education during the COVID-19 pandemic

PURPOSE: A collaborative advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) education model established within a healthcare institution during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is described. SUMMARY: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a nationwide disruption of APPE pharmacy education. Healthcare institutions faced the challenge of educating APPE students while attempting to simultaneously de-densify work areas and reduce transmission risk for employees and patients. A pharmacist coordinator and pharmacist academic partners at a large teaching hospital created a collaborative common core curriculum model for resourceful implementation of APPE education. Healthcare network pharmacists, clinical pharmacist academic partners, and pharmacy residents delivered the curriculum to 35 pharmacy students over a 9-week time period. Main components of the curriculum included patient case discussions, topic discussions, journal club presentations, live continuing education (CE) webinars, and development of pharmacy technician CE programs. A majority of students reported positive experiences working with a variety of preceptors from different specialties (81%) and collaborating with students from other universities (62%). CONCLUSION: A health system can leverage institutional, network-wide, and academic partner resources to implement a collaborative APPE curriculum during challenging times such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic