Study: Pharmacists have measurable impact on improving outcomes

EDMONTON, Alberta — Having pharmacists on primary care teams monitoring the treatment of blood pressure in patients with Type 2 diabetes have a significant impact on improved outcomes, according to a study published in the May/June issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

 

The main study, which was a randomized control trial, examined blood pressure control in people with Type 2 diabetes as a measurable, clinically important outcome. Results of the main study showed that the addition of pharmacists to primary care teams produced substantial improvements in the health of patients with Type 2 diabetes.

 

Researcher Scot Simpson wanted to delve further and pinpoint what specifically pharmacists did to improve patient health.

 

Patients in the intervention group were counseled directly by two pharmacists, who worked with the patients’ physicians as part of primary care teams at several clinics within Edmonton's Southside Primary Care Network. Control group patients did not see a primary care team pharmacist during the study. At the end of the study, 42% of the intervention group patients had at least one change to their blood pressure drugs compared to 26% of the control group patients.

 

“Based on the data, we found that patients who had a change in blood pressure drugs were twice as likely to have an improvement in their blood pressure compared to those who didn't have a change in blood pressure drugs,” Simpson said. 

 

Simpson's findings support the importance of interprofessional health collaboration in treating patients.

 

“Adding pharmacists to the team to review medications, identify drug-related problems and manage the treatment has a positive effect on blood pressure levels of patients with Type 2 diabetes,” Simpson said. “The pharmacists involved in the study had very collaborative discussions with the physicians about the patients' medications and proposed drug treatment options. ... It was from these discussions that the pharmacists were able to suggest alternative medicines or changes in dosage that contributed to lowering the patient's blood pressure.”

 

The study was part of a larger research project published in Diabetes Care in 2011.