Wicked Good Cardiometabolic Chat: Essential 2026 AACE Diabetes Updates for Pharmacists

In episode 11 of Wicked Good Cardiometabolic Chat, Jennifer Goldman, PharmD, CDCES, BC-ADM, FCCP, professor of pharmacy practice at MCPHS, and Hailey Choi, PharmD, BCACP, CDCES, associate professor of pharmacy practice at MCPHS, review the newly released 2026 American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) diabetes guideline updates and what they mean for pharmacists.

The discussion centers around the continued shift away from A_1c-only decision-making toward a complication- and obesity-centric cardiometabolic model. Goldman and Choi highlight how the updated AACE algorithm prioritizes comorbidities such as heart failure, chronic kidney disease, ASCVD, stroke/TIA, MASLD/MASH, obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea when selecting therapy.

Our hosts also discuss the new diabetes classification algorithm, which urges clinicians to reconsider whether patients truly have type 2 diabetes or may have pancreatogenic diabetes, medication-induced diabetes, or another secondary cause, among several others.

Throughout the episode, Goldman and Choi compare AACE guidelines with the 2026 ADA Standards of Care while also reviewing where GLP-1 receptor agonists, dual GIP/GLP-1 therapies, SGLT2 inhibitors, finerenone, insulin, metformin, and CGM all fit. Finally, they also explore how to apply these updates to practical patient cases.

This episode serves as a pharmacist-focused guide to modern diabetes care, where treatment decisions increasingly target organ protection, obesity, kidney disease, heart failure, liver disease, and individualized patient outcomes—not glucose-lowering alone.

Click here to learn more about the ADA Standards of Care updates from 2026.

In Wicked Good Cardiometabolic Chat, a podcast offering from Drug Topics, Goldman and Choi aim to empower pharmacists with evidence-based insights into various cardiometabolic topics. All new episodes of Wicked Good Cardiometabolic Chat will be available in a video format via DrugTopics.com on the first Wednesday of each month. Check out our most recent episode: Addressing ACC/AHA Dyslipidemia Guideline Shifts.