Improved Patient-Reported Medication Adherence, Patient Satisfaction, and Glycemic Control in a Collaborative Care Pharmacist-Led Diabetes “Tune-Up” Clinic

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-09, Vol.18 (17), p.9242
• Main Authors: Hirsch, Jan D., Kong, Nancy, Nguyen, Kevin T., Cadiz, Christine L., Zhou, Crystal, Bajorek, Sarah A., Bounthavong, Mark, Morello, Candis M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Collaboration; Complications; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Drugs; Lifestyles; Metabolism; Patient compliance; Patient satisfaction; Patients; Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18179242

Diabetes complications remain a leading cause of death, which may be due to poor glycemic control resulting from medication nonadherence. The relationship between adherence status and HbA1c (glycemic control) has not been well-studied for clinical pharmacist interventions. This study evaluated medication adherence, patient satisfaction, and HbA1c, in a collaborative pharmacist-endocrinologist diabetes clinic over 6 months. Of 127 referred, 83 patients met the inclusion criteria. Mean medication adherence scores, considered “good” at baseline, 1.4 ± 1.2, improved by 0.05 points (p = 0.018), and there was a 26% increase in patients with good adherence. A significant improvement of 0.40 percentage points (95% CI: −0.47, −0.34) was observed in mean HbA1c across the three time points (p < 0.001). Mean total satisfaction scores were high and increased, with mean 91.3 ± 12.2 at baseline, 94.7 ± 9.6 at 3 months, and 95.7 ± 10.8 at 6 months (p = 0.009). A multimodal personalized treatment approach from a pharmacist provider significantly and positively impacted glycemic control regardless of self-reported medication adherence, and patient satisfaction remained high despite changing to a clinical pharmacist provider and increased care intensity.