Impact of a pharmacist in an interdisciplinary post-cardiac intensive care unit clinic

The complex needs of cardiac patients shortly after discharge from a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) provides a unique opportunity for a pharmacist to help optimize medication management and guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT).

This study describes the impact of a pharmacist in a multidisciplinary post-CICU clinic.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients ≥18 years of age who completed a visit in the University of Michigan Post Intensive Cardiac Care Outpatient Long-Term Outreach (PICCOLO) Clinic from July 2018 to May 2020.

One hundred and six CICU survivors were referred. Of these 12 chose to follow-up with long term care providers. A total of 70 of the remaining 94 (74%) completed a visit. The median age was 65 (54-72) years, 71.4% were male, and 85.7% were Caucasian. The median number of pharmacist interventions at each visit was 4 (3-5), all patients had at least 1 intervention. Interventions included medication dose adjustment (n = 46); GDMT optimization (n = 42); medication change (n = 18); medication addition (n = 23) and cessation (n = 21); lab monitoring (n = 97); refill assistance (n = 16); pillbox provision (n = 8); and medication cost assistance (n = 8).

Pharmacist led interventions in a post CICU clinic resulted in medication changes to optimize therapy, increased laboratory monitoring, medication cost savings for patients, and interventions to facilitate GDMT adherence.