Faculty, Preceptors, and Partners win American Diabetes Association Award

Presentation on enhancing access to medication therapy management for high risk diabetic patients merits Promising Practices Award

By Emily Dotter
April 13, 2011

A team of pharmacists from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and their collaborative partners received a Promising Practices Award of Excellence from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) at its 4th Annual Disparities Partnership Forum held April 6 and 7. The award was received for the group’s presentation on enhancing access to medication therapy management (MTM) to reduce the burden of diabetes complications. This award is presented to promising practices that can be applied to community efforts aimed at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and its complications in high risk populations.

The presenting team consisted of Heather Congdon, PharmD, BCPS, CDE, an assistant dean and assistant professor of pharmacy practice and science at the School of Pharmacy; Hoai-An Truong, PharmD, MPH, assistant director of experiential learning, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical health services research, and an MTM pharmacist at the School of Pharmacy, and Faramarz Zarfeshan, RPh, a School of Pharmacy preceptor and an MTM pharmacist at ALFA Specialty Pharmacy. The collaborative team also included School of Pharmacy preceptor Rosemary Botchway, MHA, director, and Tanya Dang, coordinator, of the Center for Medicine Access at the Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County.

The team presented outcomes data on a subset of patients who received MTM services at Mercy Health Clinic of the Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County which has been part of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative since 2009. Patients receiving clinical pharmacy services at Mercy Health Clinic are a low income, uninsured, predominately Latino population with difficulty controlling their diabetes. They also take multiple medications, have multiple chronic conditions, and are referred by the clinic’s physicians, nurses, and other staff. During the MTM clinic, pharmacists meet with the patient to conduct a comprehensive medication therapy review to identify, resolve, and prevent medication-related problems. A summary of the pharmacist’s findings and recommended changes are discussed with the physician, and changes in therapy, when appropriate, are implemented before the patient leaves the clinic.

The data that the team presented evaluated patients receiving MTM services in a one-year period. For those patients, pre- and post-MTM hemoglobin A1c, a clinical parameter indicating blood glucose levels over a period of three to six months, blood pressure, and LDL (bad cholesterol) values were evaluated. The team was pleased to report a statistically significant decline in A1c for those patients who received MTM services, and a decrease in LDL and blood pressure as well.

The team also recently received a New York-based Communities IMPACT (Inspired and Motivated to Prevent and Control) Diabetes Center Legacy Grant to enhance the infrastructure at Mercy and to continue to evaluate the outcomes of their patients.

In addition to the promising practices presentation, this two-day interdisciplinary ADA Forum delivered a wide-variety of diabetes education ranging from topics on improving cardiovascular risk factors among Latinos, to how to engage patients in behavior modification. A highlight of the Forum included remarks from Keynote Speaker Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA, the 18th Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service. In her remarks, the Surgeon General pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that, by the year 2050, as many as 1 in 3 Americans may have diabetes. She also pointed out that more than 79 million Americans are currently at risk for diabetes. After her remarks a “meet and greet” session was held where attendees were able to say hello to “America’s Doctor.”

“I was very excited by the Surgeon General’s awareness of what pharmacy can contribute to help combat the complications of diabetes,” says Congdon. “I was even more impressed when she commented on the need to help secure proper reimbursement for pharmacist’s services.”

“Winning this award and attending this Forum gave us an opportunity to spread the word in front of a multidisciplinary audience about how MTM can lead to improved clinical outcomes,” says Truong. “The practice at Mercy Health Clinic was very well received by all Forum attendees, and will hopefully serve as a catalyst to adopt MTM services in more clinics across the country.”