Provider Adherence to Prescribing Guidelines for Statin Therapy

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Pharmacotherapy

Background:

• Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) significantly impacts US morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, affecting over 92 million adults.
• Projected annual treatment costs for ASCVD are expected to exceed one trillion dollars in the next 15 years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess medication therapy for ASCVD risk reduction in an adult population.
• To compare current statin prescribing practices against American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines.

Main Methods:

• Database query of adult patients in hospital outpatient clinics.
• Comparison of ASCVD rates across multicounty areas.
• Assessment of provider adherence to ACC/AHA statin therapy guidelines.

Main Results:

• Higher ASCVD rates were observed in rural counties compared to other areas.
• Statin medication prescribing rates for eligible ACC/AHA benefit groups ranged from 66.2% to 74.8% across the studied population.
• Provider adherence to guidelines was inconsistent across counties, indicating suboptimal implementation.

Conclusions:

• Guideline adherence for statin therapy in ASCVD risk reduction varied significantly among counties.
• Providers demonstrated a bias towards prescribing statin medications to men over women, irrespective of ASCVD risk level.
• Findings highlight areas for improvement in clinical practice and guideline implementation for healthcare providers, including nurse practitioners.