In posters presented at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2024 Annual Meeting, researchers explored the implementation of collaborative care programs within various health systems.
According to data from posters presented at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2024 Annual Meeting, pharmacist-led comprehensive medication management programs decreased the burden of shortages and burnouts for providers while also enhancing patient satisfaction and overall health outcomes.1 They also explored collaborative practice agreements,2 finding that a 7-step systematic intervention resulted in significant outcomes that improved relationships between pharmacists and physicians.3
“The impact of pharmaceutical care is proportional to physicians’ acceptance rates of pharmacist interventions, yet research on maximizing these rates is limited,” wrote authors of a poster presented at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2024 Annual Meeting.3
Incorporate these strategies into your pharmacy practice to improve patient outcomes.
Efforts within collaborative care are dependent upon garnering impactful relationships amongst all health care providers involved. Before exploring the impact collaborative care programs can have on patients and health systems in general, it’s crucial to address the importance of provider-provider relationships; in this case, it was pharmacists and physicians.
After implementing a 7-step program for enhancing pharmacist-physician relationships, researchers yielded significantly successful results. “Implementing this program led to significant improvements, notably resolving contentious issues between pharmacists and surgeons. Following the systematic intervention, the acceptance rate for interventions on antibiotic duration in appendectomy surged to 94%, demonstrating the efficacy of this approach,” they wrote.3
Researchers also mentioned how the success of this program would be reliant on the use of providers outside of pharmacists and physicians, as well as clinical pharmacists stepping into a leadership role.
Further analyzing the impact of collaborative approaches to providing care, researchers then explored collaborative practice agreements (CPAs). In an effort to standardize processes amongst existing CPAs, a work group was conducted and tasked with blending multiple organizations’ CPA processes into one policy.2
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“This harmonized policy was applicable to adult and pediatric and outpatient and inpatient practice sites. The new policy is flexible and inclusive of all areas where CPAs are used to deliver patient care,” wrote authors of the poster.2
A bulk of the programming relied on a review of collaborative practice-related laws. The review included requirements for pharmacists and other providers, as well as record-keeping requirements. The language within the policy was considered broad to appeal to current and future state laws.
“Health systems may benefit from a standardized approach to creating and maintaining CPAs. A flexible policy and procedure that is applicable to all areas of pharmacy and is compliant with multiple state laws helps to optimize and standardize patient care delivery,” concluded authors of the poster.2
Finally, researchers explored a more specified approach to collaborative care within comprehensive medication management (CMM) services. To facilitate CMM services, a team was tasked with creating an interprofessional primary care site that is credentialed, utilizes multiple types of providers as resources, and runs various programs for patients and providers alike to ultimately yield the best clinical outcomes.1
“Pharmacist-led CMM visits significantly enhanced patient care accessibility, clinical outcomes, interprofessional collaboration, and patient satisfaction. During the COVID-19 pandemic, services expanded to telehealth, improving access for rural and recently discharged patients,” wrote authors of the poster.1
In order to ultimately test the impact collaborative care has for patient outcomes, researchers found that pharmacists were the key providers who could step into a multidisciplinary team, facilitate medication management, and take stress and burnout away from clinicians and other providers.
The exploration of CMM services and other collaborative care programs allowed researchers to identify new approaches to providing valued care. Each type of health care provider is an expert within their industry and has a key role to play in administering care. More specifically, the research provided in these posters highlights that providers, including pharmacists and physicians, should always be practicing at the top of their license.
“This pharmacist-led CMM model can serve as a framework for primary care and rural settings nationwide, benefitting patients, providers, learners, and health systems alike. Replication of this model strategically addresses provider shortages, burnout, and enhances patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes, and health care access. As a team, the advancement of progressive pharmacy practice, while also providing robust education to the future generation of pharmacists, can be achieved,” they concluded.1
