Comparing Very Low-Carbohydrate vs DASH Diets for Overweight or Obese Adults With Hypertension and Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Trial.

PURPOSE: Adults with a triple multimorbidity (hypertension, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, and overweight or obesity), are at increased risk of serious health complications, but experts disagree on which dietary patterns and support strategies should be recommended. METHODS: We randomized 94 adults from southeast Michigan with this triple multimorbidity using a 2 × 2 diet-by-support factorial design, comparing a very low-carbohydrate (VLC) diet vs a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, as well as comparing results with and without multicomponent extra support (mindful eating, positive emotion regulation, social support, and cooking). RESULTS: Using intention-to-treat analyses, compared with the DASH diet, the VLC diet led to greater improvement in estimated mean systolic blood pressure (-9.77 mm Hg vs -5.18 mm Hg; P = .046), greater improvement in glycated hemoglobin (-0.35% vs -0.14%; P = .034), and greater improvement in weight (-19.14 lb vs -10.34 lb; P = .0003). The addition of extra support did not have a statistically significant effect on outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: For adults with hypertension, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, and overweight or obesity, the VLC diet resulted in greater improvements in systolic blood pressure, glycemic control, and weight over a 4-month period compared with the DASH diet. These findings suggest that larger trials with longer follow-up are warranted to determine whether the VLC diet might be more beneficial for disease management than the DASH diet for these high-risk adults.

Practical Considerations for Community-Based Health Promotion Events during the COVID- 19 Pandemic.

Community-based health promotion events provide student pharmacists the opportunity to give back to the local community while simultaneously applying the knowledge and skills they are learning in the classroom (Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards 3, 4, and 12). In turn, community members receive benefits, such as receiving a vaccination and learning their blood pressure, as well as strategies to manage their health conditions. Traditionally, both individual community members and student pharmacists receive benefit. As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is critical to consider the impact of public health via the local community when choosing to hold or suspend these activities. It is necessary to consider whether the benefits to individual community members who choose to participate (e.g., older adult with type 2 diabetes or underserved adults with limited access to the influenza vaccine) outweigh the risks to the public due to the pandemic. If there is sufficient benefit, there are practical considerations related to regulations, recruitment of community members, involvement of students and preceptors, location, supplies, delivery of patient care services, and activities after the event.

The Impact of an Early Clinical Experience on Pharmacy Student Learning About Ambulatory Care Practice.

Objective. To determine whether student confidence in their knowledge of ambulatory care pharmacy and ability to contribute to patient care in this setting increased after participating in an ambulatory care introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE), and whether it changed student interest in pursuing a career in ambulatory care pharmacy.Methods. Second-year pharmacy students (n=86) completed a required ambulatory care experience which included four hours of didactic work and 13.5 hours of clinic experience with an ambulatory care pharmacist. Before and after the experience, students completed an eight-question survey in which they rated their confidence in their knowledge of ambulatory care practice and in providing patient care in this setting, as well as their interest in a career in ambulatory care. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess student confidence (1=not at all confident, 5=very confident) and interest in ambulatory care (1=not at all interested, 5=extremely interested). The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare pre-post survey responses.Results. Eighty-five pharmacy students completed both the pre- and post-survey. Median scores on the post-intervention test increased from 3 to 4 in seven of the domains assessed. Student interest in a career in ambulatory care remained unchanged.Conclusion. An ambulatory care IPPE increased student confidence in their understanding of ambulatory care pharmacy practice and caring for patients in this setting.

Pharmacists providing care in statewide physician organizations: findings from the Michigan Pharmacists Transforming Care and Quality Collaborative.

BACKGROUND: Clinical services provided by pharmacists embedded in practices can improve patient outcomes within the primary care setting. Little is known about whether physician organizations (POs) will retain the services of clinical pharmacists after outside funding for a statewide implementation program is ended. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a statewide program, Michigan Pharmacists Transforming Care and Quality (MPTCQ), that incorporated pharmacists within 17 POs. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted using data collected from June 2016 to September 2018 from primary care clinical pharmacist encounters in POs participating in MPTCQ. Process outcomes included the number of participating POs, patient encounters, and average visits per patient. Analyses at the encounter level were stratified by 2 encounter types: disease state management (DSM) or comprehensive medication review (CMR). Separately by encounter type, pharmacist effect was described by the number, type, and reasons for medication changes, as well as medication adherence and cost barriers found and addressed. Clinical outcomes included hemoglobin A1c and blood pressure change. Sustainability and patient satisfaction of pharmacists providing clinical services are reported. RESULTS: Across 17 POs, 27 pharmacists participated in the MPTCQ program. Pharmacists completed 24,523 patient encounters for DSM with 5,942 patients, with an average of 5 visits per patient with diabetes and 2 visits for hypertension. Pharmacists made 15,153 therapeutic medication changes during visits for diabetes and hypertension, with approximately 70% related to efficacy. Pharmacists completed 4,203 CMR visits for 3,092 patients. During CMR visits, 1,296 therapeutic medication changes were recommended. Problems with medication cost were identified in 13% of CMR visits. Blood pressure and A1c levels decreased in patients managed by pharmacists. In 157 patients surveyed, 87% rated their pharmacists' care as excellent. Sixteen POs retained their pharmacists at the end of funding. CONCLUSIONS: A statewide provider-payer partnership successfully integrated and retained primary care pharmacists within POs. Pharmacists in the MPTCQ program contributed to improvements in disease control by changing medications to improve patient clinical outcomes. DISCLOSURES: Support for MPTCQ was provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) as part of the BCBSM Value Partnerships program. Coe was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number KL2TR002241. Although BCBSM and MPTCQ work collaboratively, the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of BCBSM or any of its employees. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Linking the patient-centered medical home to community pharmacy via an innovative pharmacist care model.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and pilot test a model that extends pharmacists' direct patient care from the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) to the community pharmacy. SETTING: Two Michigan Medicine PCMH clinics and 2 CVS Pharmacy sites in Ann Arbor, MI. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: In the PCMH clinics, pharmacists have provided patient care using collaborative practice agreements for diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia for more than 5 years. PRACTICE INNOVATION: Legal agreements were developed for sharing data and for accessing the Michigan Medicine Electronic Medical Record (EMR) in the CVS pharmacies. An immersion training model was used to train 2 community pharmacists to provide direct patient care and change medications to improve disease control. Then these community pharmacists provided disease management and comprehensive medication reviews (CMRs) in either the PCMH clinic or in CVS pharmacies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C ≤ 9% and < 7%) and blood pressure (BP < 140/90) were compared for patients seen by PCMH pharmacists, patients seen by community pharmacists, and a propensity score-generated control group. Surveys were used to assess patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Of 503 shared patients, 200 received disease management and 113 received a CMR from the community pharmacists. Lack of efficacy was the most common reason for medication changes in diabetes (n = 136) and hypertension (n = 188). For CMR, optimizing the dosage regimen was the most common intervention. For the community pharmacist group, the odds of patients having an A1C ≤ 9% increased by 8% in each time period, whereas the odds decreased by 16% for the control group (odds ratio 1.29; P = 0.0028). No statistically significant differences were seen in the outcomes for patients seen by PCMH versus community pharmacists. Most patients (90%) rated the care as excellent. CONCLUSION: Direct patient care provided by community pharmacists, either in PCMH clinics or CVS pharmacies, was consistent with care provided by PCMH pharmacists. Patients were highly satisfied with the services provided.

Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Model for Continuous Quality Improvement of an Established Simulated Patient Program.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of a continuous quality improvement process for strengthening our simulated patient (SP) program and the initial steps that have been implemented. INNOVATION: A workgroup that included five clinical faculty with significant experience working with SPs and a strong interest in improving the SP program was developed. The Plan-Do-Study-Act model was used as it allowed for incremental quality improvement changes, in order to ensure a high-quality SP program designed to optimize student learning. Data were gathered from students, SPs, and faculty. Opportunities for improvement were prioritized based on anticipated benefits and available resources. Changes related to planning, implementation, and evaluation and feedback have been executed. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Changes related to planning that were implemented included developing handbooks for SPs, faculty, and graduate student instructors, as well as material for students in order to better describe the program. SPs are now referred to as "simulated" as opposed to "standardized" as part of a broader effort to clarify the purpose of SP interactions to students. Streamlined rubrics have been piloted, including electronic rubrics for first year students. SPs are being trained on fewer cases, in order to improve the training program. When possible, activities now take place in one large classroom instead of many small classrooms to improve oversight. Finally, additional feedback has been obtained from SPs via a retreat. These changes have been well received by students, SPs, and faculty. NEXT STEPS: The collection of this data and initial quality improvement changes provided a basis for hiring a full-time employee who will: dedicate 50% of their time to programmatic assessment of the SP program, support faculty with logistics and training, and be the face of our program to the students and SPs. Further, formal quantitative and qualitative assessment of the SP program has begun.

Effectively implementing FDA medication alerts utilizing patient centered medical home clinical pharmacists.

FDA medication alerts can be successfully implemented within patient centered medical home (PCMH) clinics utilizing clinical pharmacists. Targeted selection of high-risk patients from an electronic database allows PCMH pharmacists to prioritize assessments. Trusting relationships between PCMH clinical pharmacists and primary care providers facilitates high response rates to pharmacist recommendations. This health system approach led by PCMH pharmacists provides a framework for proactive responses to FDA safety alerts and medication related quality measure improvement.

Heart failure assessment at the community pharmacy level: a feasibility pilot study.

BACKGROUND: A key element missing in disease-management programs for heart failure (HF) is participation of the community pharmacist. The purpose of this study is to determine if a simple and efficient clinical tool will allow community pharmacists to identify patients at risk for worsening HF. DESIGN: The One Minute Clinic for Heart Failure (TOM-C HF) was developed as a simple six-item symptom screening tool to be used during routine patient/customer interactions. SETTING: Ten community pharmacies located in the upper Midwest. PATIENTS: Self-identified HF patients. RESULTS: 121 unique patients were evaluated over a 12-month period. The application of this clinical tool took between 1 and 5 minutes in over 80% of the interactions. Seventy-five patients (62%) had one or more signs or symptoms of worsening HF. The most common symptoms detected included edema (39%) and increased shortness of breath (17%). Self-reported weight gain of more than 5 pounds was seen in 19% of patients. CONCLUSION: The TOM-C HF tool was used to identify patients in a time-efficient manner in the community pharmacy setting who appear to be developing worsening HF. Inclusion of the community pharmacists as an early screen for HF decompensation may be an important link in disease-management programs to help reduce hospital readmission rates.

Patient-centered medical home: developing, expanding, and sustaining a role for pharmacists.

PURPOSE: The development of a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) health care model and the role of pharmacists in PCMHs at the University of Michigan are described. SUMMARY: In 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) provided financial incentives to physician groups to implement PCMH principles. A partnership was formed among the department of pharmacy, college of pharmacy, and faculty group practice at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) to integrate clinical pharmacists into the PCMH model at eight general medicine practices. The rationale was that PCMH pharmacists could assist in managing chronic conditions by substituting or augmenting physician care, help achieve quality indicators, and increase revenue by billing for their services. At the University of Michigan, PCMH pharmacists currently provide direct patient care services at eight general medicine health centers for patients with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and polypharmacy, which are billable using T codes, which are payable to UMHS by most BCBSM plans. In the first year, the number of PCMH pharmacist half-day clinics varied from one to six per health center, and the mean number of patients per half-day clinic ranged from 2.2 to 6. Pharmacists in four PCMHs made more medication changes per visit than the other four, particularly for patients with diabetes. CONCLUSION: At the University of Michigan, PCMH pharmacists currently provide direct patient care services at eight general medicine health centers for patients with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and polypharmacy via referral from physicians.