October is National Pharmacists Month, and the PharmD Live team is pleased to celebrate and recognize pharmacists for their prolific contributions to the evolving landscape of healthcare.
As laws, regulations, and paradigms change and affect healthcare provision, pharmacists are expanding their scope of practice.
Clinical pharmacists have been tapped to lead chronic care management (CCM) services, as pharmacist-provided care has been shown to reduce drug expenditures, hospital readmissions, length of stay, and emergency department visits.
As medication experts, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to prevent medication errors and drug interactions and minimize side effects and adverse medication events.
This makes them well-suited to manage patients with chronic conditions and complex medical pictures.
Pharmacist-led CCM solutions:
- Mitigate medication-related risks
- Effectively manage chronic conditions between physician visits
- Improve medication and care plan adherence
- Reduce overall healthcare expenditure
- Improve patient’s quality of life
- Improve quality metrics
- Reduce physician workload and administrative burden
In addition to managing and preventing chronic conditions and diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pain, diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension, cancer, and chronic kidney disease, clinical pharmacists are equipped to make high-level clinical decisions.
This enables them to reduce physician workload and on-call burden in a third-party CCM arrangement.
With the national shift to value-based care, leveraging pharmacist-led care will assist medical practices in meeting quality metrics, reducing physician workload, minimizing administrative burden, and improving clinical and commercial outcomes.
PharmD Live’s pharmacist-led CCM services integrate with physician practices and care teams to fortify clinical and commercial outcomes.
To learn more about the benefits of pharmacist-led care, contact Ellery Plowman.
Eltaki, Sara M., PharmD, BCPS; Gernant, Stephanie A., PharmD, MS; Hale, Genevieve M., PharmD, BCPS; Jones, Renee, PharmD, CPh; Joseph, Tina, PharmD, BCACP; Moreau, Cynthia, PharmD; Prados, Yesenia, PharmD; and Seamon, Matthew J., PharmD, JD. Integration Strategies of Pharmacists in Primary Care-Based Accountable Care Organizations: A Report from the Accountable Care Organization Research Network, Services, and Education. Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. May, 2017. https://www.jmcp.org/doi/pdf/10.18553/jmcp.2017.23.5.541
Moose, Joseph PharmD, and Branham, Ashley PharmD, BCACP. Pharmacists as Influencers of Patient Adherence. Pharmacy Times. August 24, 2014. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/directions-in-pharmacy/2014/august2014/pharmacists-as-influencers-of-patient-adherence-
