Heart failure assessment at the community pharmacy level: a feasibility pilot study

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Cardiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Community pharmacist involvement is crucial but often lacking in heart failure (HF) disease management.
• A simple clinical tool is needed to empower community pharmacists to identify at-risk HF patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if a simple, efficient clinical tool enables community pharmacists to identify patients at risk for worsening heart failure.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the TOM-C HF tool in a community pharmacy setting.

Main Methods:

• Development of the One Minute Clinic for Heart Failure (TOM-C HF), a six-item symptom screening tool.
• Implementation in 10 community pharmacies in the upper Midwest over 12 months.
• Evaluation of self-identified HF patients during routine interactions.

Main Results:

• 121 patients were evaluated; the tool took 1-5 minutes in over 80% of interactions.
• 62% of patients (75) showed signs/symptoms of worsening HF.
• Common symptoms included edema (39%), shortness of breath (17%), and significant weight gain (19%).

Conclusions:

• The TOM-C HF tool efficiently identifies patients with worsening HF in community pharmacies.
• Integrating community pharmacists as early screeners for HF decompensation can improve disease management.
• This strategy may contribute to reducing hospital readmission rates for heart failure.