The Opportunities, Gaps in Diabetes Care Making Pharmacists Stand Out | ADA 2025

Amid their evolving role within diabetes management, there are a significant number of gaps in care and opportunities for pharmacists to become full-time members of an interprofessional care team. According to experts like Jon Easter, RPh, associate faculty director at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the opportunities in integrating pharmacists within diabetes care teams seemingly outweigh the barriers to provider collaboration.

“I'm watching, and we're all watching, to see the expansion of pharmacist engagement around diabetes management because the medications are so complex and because the disease is so complex,” Easter told Drug Topics. “We're having physicians asking for help, and pharmacists are ideally positioned to be able to take that next step in helping to combat medication therapy problems with this disease but also to drive engagement with diabetes and helping patients understand more holistically what's going on with their diseases.”

At the American Diabetes Association’s 85th Scientific Sessions, Easter hosted a session titled “Adding Pharmacists to the Team—Enhancing Access and Patient Engagement for Better Outcomes.” Touching on all the main ideas from his presentation, we asked Easter about how pharmacists in diabetes management are increasing access and advancing patient engagement through their work on interprofessional care teams.

Listen to the full-length version of our conversation with Easter, as he dives deep into the pharmacist’s ever-evolving role within diabetes care. He also looked to the future and imparted some advice on the next generation of pharmacists looking to expand their scope, whether it be within or outside of diabetes management.

Stay tuned for more bonus episodes from Over the Counter throughout the year as the Drug Topics team navigates industry conferences, ongoing news coverage, and so much more!

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