Pharmacist-Led Diabetes Coaching Improved Glycemic Control, Reduced Expenses | ADA 2025
Abstract researchers explored whether or not a pharmacist could serve as the lead of a diabetes coaching program, aiming to reduce medical expenditures and A1C levels for at-risk patients.
Introduction of a pharmacist-led diabetes coaching program was associated with improvements in glycemic control and reductions in medical expenditures, according to an abstract presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 85th Scientific Sessions, held in Chicago, Illinois from June 20-23, 2025.1
“Individuals with persistently uncontrolled diabetes (Hemoglobin A1C ≥9) are often high utilizers of health care services,” wrote authors of the abstract. “We explored whether a pharmacist coach could reduce medical expenditure and A1C levels for at-risk patients in poor glycemic control despite receiving standard care at an endocrinology clinic.”
Diabetes expenditures have increased in the US significantly during the past few decades. With total costs in the US at $412.9 billion in 2022, patients’ diabetes expenses rose 35% from 2012 to 2022. While these expenses have remained stable since 2022, the overall prevalence of diabetes in the US has increased, leading to higher spending on hospital stays and prescription medications.2
A future landscape featuring interprofessional teams with diabetes expertise has real potential to become the norm in health care. | image credit: DC Studio / stock.adobe.com
READ MORE: Pharmacist Involvement Helps Reduce Time to A1c Target
“Diabetes poses a substantial burden on society in the form of higher direct medical costs, lost productivity, premature mortality, and intangible costs in the form of reduced social connectivity and quality of life,” wrote authors of a study published in Diabetes Care. “Shifts in demographics of the population with diabetes and changes in health care delivery, therapies, and technology affect the economic burden associated with diabetes.”
With the current diabetes prevalence in the US at over 38 million patients (11.6% of the US population),3 abstract researchers wanted to understand how pharmacists’ abilities can be employed to lower medical costs while concurrently improving patients’ A1Cs.
To conduct their study, researchers recruited pharmacists from the UMass Memorial Specialty Pharmacy program who were Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (CDCES) and embedded in UMass’ Diabetes Center of Excellence. Collaborating with endocrinologists, nurse practitioners, and diabetes educators, the pharmacists were asked to deliver individualized coaching that covered medication management, nutrition and lifestyle counseling, refill coordination, and social determinants of health screening and referrals.1
Researchers compared patients enrolled into the coaching program with those who were not enrolled. Then, they found total medical expense (TME) data for patients in the coaching program and matched them with the comparison group that did not participate in the program.
A total of 165 patients were included in the diabetes coaching group and 675 patients were not enrolled. For TME specifically, 43 individuals from the coaching program were compared with 95 participants from the matched comparison group. This TME comparison was conducted to estimate the coaching program’s impact on medical expenditures.
“Patients in the treatment group were associated with average annual patient medical expense that was $4,691 lower than patients in the control group,” continued authors of the abstract.1 “Coach patients receiving support for 12 months or more experienced an average A1C decrease of 1.6% compared to a decrease of 0.5% (p<0.05) in the control group.”
According to the authors, as well as researchers prior to this abstract, pharmacists have demonstrated the ability to significantly improve the outcomes of patients with diabetes. Through their understanding of medication management and proper facilitation of patient relationships, pharmacists have proven their ability to play a major role in diabetes management.
“Pharmacist-led diabetes management models have evolved over the course of the past few years,” wrote authors of a study published in Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity.4“Early practices originated in the development of programs to enhance medication counseling opportunities with the ultimate goal of improving adherence. Now, models have evolved to incorporate traditional counseling with overall disease state management.”
From previous studies on the rise in diabetes costs to the current study supporting pharmacists in diabetes management, a future landscape featuring interprofessional teams with diabetes expertise has real potential to become the norm in health care sectors around the world.
“A diabetes coaching program facilitated by pharmacists certified as CDCES’ was associated with statistically significant improvements in glycemic control and reductions in medical expenditure compared to matched comparison groups,” concluded the authors.1 “Pharmacy revenue generated by improved medication adherence has supported the financial sustainability of the program.”
Read more from our coverage of the ADA’s 85th Scientific Sessions.
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