Study finds hypertension best treated by doctor-pharmacist collaboration

NEW YORK Collaboration between doctors and pharmacists works best when treating patients with hypertension, a new study concluded.

A new study, published in the Nov. 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, assessed 402 people treated for high blood pressure at six clinics and divided into two groups. One group got the usual high blood pressure treatment, in which a prescription is written based on the doctor's measurement of blood pressure, and a pharmacist simply fills the prescription. The other group was treated by doctor-pharmacist teams in which the pharmacists were trained to assess participants' blood pressure and adjust both the kind of drugs prescribed and the dosage of those drugs.

After six months, blood pressure had dropped to the recommended level in 30% of the participants in the traditional treatment group, while 64% of those treated by a pharmacist-physician team achieved the goal.

"When physicians work with pharmacists, medications are intensified, dosages increased, medications used more effectively," said Barry L. Carter, a professor in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and lead author of the report. "Medication compliance is lesser reason for the improvement."