Primary Care Providers' Acceptance of Pharmacists' Recommendations to Support Optimal Medication Management for Patients with Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Abstract

Background

Patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) often struggle with blood pressure control. In team-based models of care, pharmacists and primary care providers (PCPs) play important roles in supporting patients' blood pressure management.

Objective

To describe whether PCPs' acceptance of pharmacists' recommendations impacts systolic blood pressure (SBP) at 36 months.

Design

An observational analysis of a subset of participants randomized to the intervention arm of the Simultaneous risk factor control using Telehealth to slOw Progression of Diabetic Kidney Disease (STOP-DKD) study.

Participants

STOP-DKD participants for whom (1) the pharmacist made at least one recommendation to the PCP; (2) there were available data regarding the PCP's corresponding action; and (3) there were SBP measurements at baseline and 36 months.

Intervention

Participants received monthly telephone calls with a pharmacist addressing health behaviors and medication management. Pharmacists made medication-related recommendations to PCPs.

Main measures

We fit an unadjusted generalized linear mixed model to assess the association between the number of pharmacists' recommendations for DKD and blood pressure management and PCPs' acceptance of such recommendations. We used a linear regression model to evaluate the association between PCP acceptance and SBP at 36 months, adjusted for baseline SBP.

Key results

Pharmacists made 176 treatment recommendations (among 59 participants), of which 107 (61%) were accepted by PCPs. SBP significantly declined by an average of 10.5 mmHg (p < 0.01) among 47 of 59 participants who had valid measurements at baseline and 36 months. There was a significant association between the number of pharmacist recommendations and the odds of PCP acceptance (OR 1.19; 95%CI 1.00, 1.42; p < 0.05), but no association between the number of accepted recommendations and SBP.

Conclusions

Pharmacists provided actionable medication-related recommendations. We identified a significant decline in SBP at 36 months, but this reduction was not associated with recommendation acceptance.

Trial registration

NCT01829256.

Department

Description

Provenance

Subjects

Humans, Diabetic Nephropathies, Diabetes Mellitus, Health Personnel, Pharmacists, Primary Health Care, Medication Therapy Management

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1007/s11606-019-05403-x

Publication Info

Zullig, Leah L, Shelley A Jazowski, Clemontina A Davenport, Clarissa J Diamantidis, Megan M Oakes, Sejal Patel, Jivan Moaddeb, Hayden B Bosworth, et al. (2020). Primary Care Providers' Acceptance of Pharmacists' Recommendations to Support Optimal Medication Management for Patients with Diabetic Kidney Disease. Journal of general internal medicine, 35(1). pp. 63–69. 10.1007/s11606-019-05403-x Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/28702.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By

Scholars@Duke

Zullig

Leah L Zullig

Professor in Population Health Sciences

Leah L. Zullig, PhD, MPH is a health services researcher and implementation scientist whose work focuses on accelerating the adoption of evidence-based practices to improve healthcare delivery and population health. She is a Professor in the Duke University Department of Population Health Sciences and an investigator with the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System.


Dr. Zullig is a recognized leader in implementation science. She directs INTERACT, the Implementation Science Research Collaborative, which fosters interdisciplinary collaborations across Duke University and with external partners to accelerate the translation of research into practice. She also leads the Dissemination and Implementation Catalyst within Duke's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program and serves as Co-Leader of the Duke Cancer Institute's Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program.


Dr. Zullig's research spans three interconnected areas: improving the quality and delivery of cancer care; advancing cancer survivorship and chronic disease management; and enhancing medication adherence. Across these domains, she applies implementation science methods to develop, evaluate, and scale evidence-based interventions that promote equitable, high-quality care across diverse healthcare settings. Her research is characterized by strong partnerships with healthcare systems, ensuring that findings extend beyond publication to inform clinical practice, health system transformation, and policy.


Dr. Zullig has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and has established a national reputation for leading pragmatic, health system-embedded research that improves patient outcomes and advances the science of implementation.


Dr. Zullig earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion, Master of Public Health in Public Health Administration, and PhD in Health Policy.

Diamantidis

Clarissa Jonas Diamantidis

Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine
Bosworth

Hayden Barry Bosworth

Professor in Population Health Sciences

Dr. Bosworth is a health services researcher and Deputy Director of the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT)  at the Durham VA Medical Center. He is also Vice Chair of Education and Professor of Population Health Sciences. He is also a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Nursing at Duke University Medical Center and Adjunct Professor in Health Policy and Administration at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests comprise three overarching areas of research: 1) clinical research that provides knowledge for improving patients’ treatment adherence and self-management in chronic care; 2) translation research to improve access to quality of care; and 3) eliminate health care disparities. 

 

Dr. Bosworth is the recipient of an American Heart Association established investigator award, the 2013 VA Undersecretary Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research (The annual award is the highest honor for VA health services researchers), and a VA Senior Career Scientist Award. In terms of self-management, Dr. Bosworth has expertise developing interventions to improve health behaviors related to hypertension, coronary artery disease, and depression, and has been developing and implementing tailored patient interventions to reduce the burden of other chronic diseases. These trials focus on motivating individuals to initiate health behaviors and sustaining them long term and use members of the healthcare team, particularly pharmacists and nurses. He has been the Principal Investigator of over 30 trials resulting in over 400 peer reviewed publications and four books. This work has been or is being implemented in multiple arenas including Medicaid of North Carolina, private payers, The United Kingdom National Health System Direct, Kaiser Health care system, and the Veterans Affairs.

Areas of Expertise: Health Behavior, Health Services Research, Implementation Science, Health Measurement, and Health Policy


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