Data on Managed Care Reported by Researchers at Duke University Hospital (Assessment of Embedded Versus Remote Pharmacist Versus Remote Student Pharmacist Outreach On Statin Prescribing): Managed Care

Health Policy and Law Daily

2024 NOV 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating from Durham, North Carolina, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The Statin Use in Persons with Diabetes (SUPD) measure is a Star measure by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Duke Population Health Management Office has a team of pharmacists and pharmacy students who conduct targeted outreach to patients at risk of failing statin quality measures.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Duke University Hospital, “Pharmacy services are embedded in select primary care clinics and other clinics are supported remotely. The primary objective of this review is to compare the initiation rates of recommended statin prescriptions between embedded pharmacist versus remote pharmacist versus remote student pharmacist outreach groups, all of which have different levels of autonomy within pharmacy practice. The secondary objectives are to identify the barriers to the implementation of statin therapy and to assess the statin drugs and intensity of the statins prescribed. A single-center, retrospective chart review was performed for SUPD patients with Medicare insurance. SUPD patients included patients between 40 and 75 years of age, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and were not dispensed at least 1 statin medication of any intensity during the 6-month measurement period. The primary outcome was the initiation of recommended statin medications prescribed, or pended for the primary care provider to prescribe, for qualifying patients by embedded, remote, and remote student pharmacists. Secondary outcomes included the reasons for the nonimplementation of statin recommendations, reasons statin therapy was not prescribed to patients contributing to the SUPD measure gap, and statin drug and dose prescribed for appropriateness. A total of 189 patients were included in the evaluation. In this study, 34.9% of the patients filled the prescribed or pended statin prescription and 83.3% of patients filled the prescribed or pended statin prescription at the recommended intensity according to the American College of Cardiology/American Hospital Association guidelines, effectively closing the SUPD measure gap. The initiation rates of recommended statin prescriptions between the embedded pharmacist, remote pharmacist, and remote student pharmacist outreach were numerically different at 36.7%, 28.2%, and 36.7%, respectively, even though not statistically different (P = 0.61). Remote student pharmacists’ performance was equal to that of the embedded pharmacists when comparing the initiation rates of statin medications prescribed or pending the primary care provider’s approval. The most common reason for nonimplementation of statin therapy is that the statin was refused by the patient.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Atorvastatin and rosuvastatin were the two most commonly prescribed statins.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Assessment of Embedded Versus Remote Pharmacist Versus Remote Student Pharmacist Outreach On Statin Prescribing. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 2024;64(4). Journal of the American Pharmacists Association can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Micaela Hayes, Duke University Medical Center, Duke University Health Systems, Pgy 2 Ambulatory Care Pharm Resident, Durham, NC, United States. Additional authors for this research include Patrick Gregory, Benjamin Smith, Brittney Champagne, Amit Patel, Holly Alvarado, Cindy Roberson, Chengxin Yang, Hui-Jie Lee and Alaattin Erkanli.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2024.102127. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.