Primary care provider perceptions of an integrated community pharmacy hypertension management program

Trained community pharmacists provided hypertension (HTN) management services in collaboration with a patient-centered medical home (PCMH).

To explore primary care provider (PCP) perceptions of a HTN management program in which patients at the PCMH with elevated blood pressure could choose to receive follow-up care with a trained community pharmacist at a chain community pharmacy.

We conducted informal interviews with 8 PCPs with a range of level of involvement with the collaborative HTN management program to inform the development of a 13-question online survey that was distributed to PCPs at 10 participating Michigan Medicine PCMH clinics. The primary outcome was the percent of PCPs who reported that the program improved their patient's blood pressure. Secondary outcomes included awareness of the program, alternative follow-up strategies, PCP satisfaction, and barriers to using the program.

A total of 39 PCPs (30.0%) responded to the survey. More than one-half (n = 21 of 39, 53.9%) of respondents reported that at least 1 of their patients had seen a trained community pharmacist for HTN management services. Almost all of these PCPs (n = 19 of 21, 90.5%) reported being satisfied with the program, and 80.9% (n = 17 of 21) agreed that it helped patients improve their blood pressure control. The most common barriers identified were patients preferring to follow up directly with their PCP (n = 18 of 39, 46.2%), PCPs being more comfortable with patients having a visit with an embedded ambulatory care pharmacist (n = 16 of 39, 41.0%), and a lack of written materials to share with patients about the program (n = 15 of 39, 38.5%).

PCPs who used the integrated community pharmacy HTN management program were satisfied with the program and thought that it resulted in improved blood pressure control. PCPs may benefit from written information to share with their patients as well as education to increase their awareness of the program and its beneficial effect on patient blood pressure.