RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of the chronic medication optimization pharmacist (CMOP) program on blood pressure (BP) control and time to goal compared with usual care in the ambulatory care setting. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study that included patients from June 2018 to June 2020 who were seen in an ambulatory care clinic for hypertension management. METHODS: Patients aged 18 to 80 years were divided into 2 cohorts based on hypertension management by usual care or the CMOP program. Patients were enrolled in the CMOP program either by referral or identification via a data analytics tool. The primary outcome assessed the proportion of patients within BP goal (< 140/90 mm Hg) at 3 months. Secondary outcomes assessed the proportion of patients within goal at 6 months, time and number of visits to goal, and adherence (CMOP cohort only). RESULTS: The primary end point demonstrated a greater proportion of patients within goal in the CMOP cohort compared with usual care (69.4% vs 42.3%; P < .001). The CMOP cohort also displayed a greater proportion of patients achieving goal within 6 months (75.7% vs 60.4%; P = .014) and faster time to goal (42.99 vs 63.12 days; P = .002), but more visits (1.67 vs 1.18; P = .001). Lastly, adherence improved from 50.4% to 72.1% in the patients with a documented adherence assessment in the pharmacist group (P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: The pharmacist intervention improved BP control in a primarily African American patient population compared with usual care. Future studies should assess the sustainability of this intervention.
Asunto(s)
Hipertensión , Farmacéuticos , Antihipertensivos/farmacología , Antihipertensivos/uso terapéutico , Presión Sanguínea , Registros Electrónicos de Salud , Humanos , Hipertensión/complicaciones , Hipertensión/tratamiento farmacológico , Estudios RetrospectivosRESUMEN
OUR PROBLEM: As the pharmacy profession evolves to include non-dispensing services and collaborative care, greater emphasis is placed on communication skills building through standardized patient programs. Best practices for assuring the quality of standardized patient (SP) programs, however, remains unclear. The objective of this manuscript is to summarize quality assurance processes for standardized patient programs from health professions education literature. METHODOLOGICAL LITERATURE REVIEW: A search of PubMed and Scopus between 2011 and 2016 was conducted and 22 articles were retained for thematic analysis. Articles were screened for relevance to quality assurance. OUR RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS: The thematic analysis revealed four themes: (1) enhanced SP training programs, (2) structured feedback to students, (3) statistical measurements to ensure inter-rater reliability, and (4) observation and evaluation of the SP to improve SP performance. Specific methods to assure the quality of an SP program were identified, including training program content and feedback techniques. POTENTIAL IMPACT: Although SP programs varied widely in their implementation, there were several common strategies used to evaluate the consistency of performance, effectiveness of feedback to students, and reliability of grading. Additional research is necessary to establish standards for SP programs across professional healthcare disciplines.