Objective: To improve key indicators of diabetes care by expanding a proven community-based model of care throughout high-risk areas in the United States.
Design: Observational, multisite, pre-post comparison study.
Setting: Federally qualified health centers, free clinics, employer worksites, community pharmacies, departments of health, physician offices, and other care facilities in 25 communities in 17 states from June 2011 through January 2013.
Participants: 1,836 patients disproportionately affected by diabetes representing diverse ethnicities, insurance statuses, and social and economic backgrounds.
Intervention: Pharmacists were integrated into local, interdisciplinary diabetes care teams and provided customized diabetes education and medication consultations to patients.
Main outcome measures: Clinical measures included glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C), body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and total cholesterol. Process measures included smoking status, eye examination status, foot examination status, and influenza vaccine status.
Results: Pharmacist patient care services for those underserved or disproportionately affected by diabetes resulted in a statistically significant and clinically relevant decrease in mean A1C levels (-0.8%). Other outcome indicators were below target levels at baseline and decreased significantly but not by clinically relevant amounts (LDL-C, -7.1 mg/dL; triglycerides, -23.7 mg/dL, and total cholesterol, -8.8 mg/dL). The mean increase in HDL-C (+0.6 mg/dL) was not statistically significant or clinically relevant. Among evaluable patients who were not at target for process measures at baseline, 51.7% of 453 patients received eye examinations, 72.0% of 271 patients received foot examinations, 41.7% of 307 patients received influenza vaccinations, and 9.3% patients of 270 quit smoking during the project. Of the communities involved in the study, 92% intend to sustain pharmacists' services.
Conclusion: Project
Impact: Diabetes results show significant improvement in patients' clinical outcomes and demonstrate that all patients, even those with tremendous barriers to appropriate diabetes care, benefit from patient-centered, interdisciplinary health care teams that include pharmacists.