Federal Bureau of Prisons clinical pharmacy program improves patient A1C

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) currently has over 13,000 patients with diabetes and has placed an emphasis on preventing and delaying the onset or progression of diabetes-related complications. In an ongoing effort to improve patient outcomes, BOP has implemented a nationwide, dynamic system of pharmacist-delivered patient care services via pharmacist clinicians working under the auspices of a physician-pharmacist collaborative practice agreement (CPA).

The BOP Clinical Pharmacy Workgroup targets improved patient outcomes via oversight and support of institution pharmacist clinicians and physicians in establishing and maintaining physician-pharmacist CPAs. A primary emphasis is diabetes and the pharmacist-run clinic clinical outcomes data are presented.

Seventy (nearly one-half) of eligible BOP pharmacists at 37 institutions offer pharmacist-delivered patient care services via an approved CPA. In total, BOP has 111 active physician-pharmacist CPAs.

Pharmacist-run diabetes clinic outcomes from 5 institutions have been reported to date. A total of 126 patients were enrolled. Patient's hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol level are measured before (i.e., when accepted in the diabetes clinic) and after pharmacist-delivered care has been provided. The pharmacist-run diabetes clinics reported an average baseline A1C of 10.6% and produced an average outcome decrease in A1C of 2.3% from baseline.

Specific pharmacist clinic interventions found to have the greatest impact are: 1) timely medication adjustment when indicated to help patients meet outcome goals; and 2) timely follow-up after a change in therapy is made (often within 1-2 weeks) with continued medication adjustment when indicated until outcome goal is achieved.

BOP pharmacists have become respected and trusted clinicians within the team medicine model. As demonstrated by the pharmacist-run diabetes clinic outcomes, pharmacist clinicians are a valued link to the improvement of patient outcomes in BOP.