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Pediatric asthma medication therapy management through community pharmacy and primary care collaboration
Insights
A collaborative medication therapy management program improved asthma care for pediatric patients. Pharmacist-physician partnerships led to high acceptance rates for recommendations, enhancing patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacy Practice
- Pediatric Asthma Management
- Collaborative Healthcare Models
Background:
- High-risk pediatric asthma requires coordinated care between healthcare providers.
- Community pharmacies can play a vital role in managing chronic pediatric conditions.
- Existing care models may not fully address the needs of underserved pediatric asthma populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and implement a collaborative medication therapy management (MTM) program.
- To target pediatric patients with high-risk asthma in a community pharmacy setting.
- To foster a partnership between community pharmacy and academic hospital for improved asthma care.
Main Methods:
- A partnership was established between a national grocery chain pharmacy and an academic children's hospital.
- An interdisciplinary team identified high-risk pediatric asthma patients using symptom assessments and healthcare utilization data.
- Community pharmacists provided MTM interventions, including education and medication recommendations, with follow-up.
Main Results:
- Six pediatric patients completed the pilot program.
- Pharmacists made an average of 3.7 recommendations per patient and 1.5 per prescriber.
- Recommendation acceptance rates were 77.3% for patients and 100% for prescribers.
Conclusions:
- A pharmacist-physician collaborative MTM program was successfully designed and implemented for pediatric asthma patients.
- The primary outcome was the establishment of a sustainable collaborative team between pharmacists and physicians.
- This collaboration facilitates ongoing family-centered initiatives for pediatric health.
Objectives:
To design and implement a collaborative medication therapy management (MTM) program targeting pediatric patients with high-risk asthma in a community pharmacy.
Setting:
Underserved inner city of Cincinnati, OH.
Practice Description:
A large national grocery store chain pharmacy and an academic hospital developed a partnership aimed at improving asthma care for shared patients. An interdisciplinary project team was formed, including 2 clinical pharmacists, 1 pharmacy district clinical coordinator, 1 pharmacy division clinical coordinator, 1 associate professor at a college of pharmacy, 1 pharmacy resident, and 3 pediatric physicians. This pilot project involved 2 Kroger Pharmacy sites and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's (CCHMC) 3 pediatric primary care centers.
Practice Innovation:
Kroger and CCHMC staff identified shared high-risk asthma patients (those cared for at the included primary care centers who used Kroger for their medication fills) with the use of information from validated symptom assessments (Asthma Control Test), refill history, and recent health care utilization. Community pharmacists recruited jointly identified patients and provided a targeted MTM intervention. Education focused on asthma diagnosis, types of asthma medications, appropriate medication administration, and environmental triggers. Pharmacists suggested medication changes to prescribers via facsimile. Pharmacists followed up with patients in 30 days to assess asthma control, provide additional education, and propose further recommendations.
Evaluation:
Outcomes evaluated included the average number of recommendations made to patients and prescribers and acceptance rates for each of those measures.
Results:
Six patients completed the project. Pharmacists provided an average of 3.7 recommendations to each patient and 1.5 to prescribers for each patient; 77.3% and 100% recommendations were accepted, respectively.
Conclusion:
This pilot project describes the design and implementation of a pharmacist-physician collaborative program for high-risk pediatric asthma patients. The greatest outcome of this project was the formation of a collaborative team between pharmacists and physicians that continues to work together on additional family-centered initiatives.
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