Impact of Clinical Pharmacists on Access to Care in an Epilepsy Clinic

Epilepsy affects about 1% of the world population and is one of the most burdensome diseases in terms of disability-adjusted life-years. The demand for neurologists and epileptologists is expected to exceed current supply by 2025. One potential strategy to increase access to epilepsy care is to utilize clinical pharmacist practitioners (CPPs) with a broad scope of practice.

Appointments at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital (WSMVH) epilepsy clinic in Madison, Wisconsin, were reviewed to determine the percentage of appointments completed by a CPP or clinical pharmacy resident from October 2019 to May 2021. Additionally, a retrospective chart review was completed on 446 veterans to identify the types of interventions made by a CPP or clinical pharmacy resident at each appointment from October 2017 to June 2021.

The CPP or clinical pharmacy resident held approximately 43% of 591 total appointments and spent a mean 27 minutes with each patient. Medication interventions occurred at 27% of 446 appointments in the retrospective chart review. Half (50.4%) of all patients seen by a CPP completed at least 1 mental health screening.

The integration of a CPP WSMVH epilepsy clinic allowed for greater and more timely access to care and allowed for the epileptologists to focus their time on new consults, Epilepsy Monitoring Unit admissions, and higher acuity cases.