Intervention and Education in Diabetes: A Pilot Project Comparing Usual Care with Pharmacist-Directed Collaborative Primary Care

2008 ◽  
Vol 141 (6) ◽  
pp. 346-351.e1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jade Rosin ◽  
Kendra Townsend

Background: Prior to this project, patients were required to drive up to 2 hours to a diabetes education centre. As a result, many patients were not receiving diabetes education, and there was little or no follow-up of patients. Significant opportunity exists for pharmacists to fill such gaps in chronic disease management services. Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to the intervention or usual care arm. Laboratory data (glycosylated hemoglobin, fasting blood glucose, lipid panel, microalbumin, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and Diabetes Empowerment Scale short form (DES-SF) score were collected at baseline and at 6 months. Intervention patients received a medication review, 3 one-on-one education sessions with one of the study pharmacists and follow-up phone calls. Usual care patients did not receive medication reviews or education sessions, and received follow-up phone calls only if drug-related problems were detected. Drug-related problems were tracked for all patients. Referrals to other health care professionals (dietitian, homecare, public health) were made as required. Paired-sample t-tests were used to compare baseline and 6-month data. Results: Forty-five patients were enrolled in the study (intervention: 23; usual care: 17). Five patients were lost to follow-up (intervention: 2; usual care: 3). There was a statistically significant improvement in DES-SF score in the intervention group ( p < 0.001) and a decline in DES-SF score in the usual care group ( p < 0.04). There was a significant decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin in the usual care group ( p < 0.04). Referrals to other health care professionals were higher in the intervention group (I: 36; UC: 0). The number of drug-related problems detected was also greater in the intervention group (I: 83; UC: 8). The overall acceptance rate of pharmacist recommendations for drug-related problems was high in both arms (I: 81%; UC: 100%). Conclusions: Most outcome measures were not statistically significant. Further study is needed to evaluate the change in clinical outcomes. However, greater involvement of a pharmacist in diabetes management resulted in greater detection of drug-related problems and referral to other health care professionals, and promoted diabetes-related self-efficacy and appropriate self-care behaviour. Pharmacists can play an important role in the management of diabetic patients.

Author(s):  
Linda Gordon ◽  
Amanda Malecky ◽  
Andrew Althouse ◽  
Nicole Ansani

Background: Data demonstrate an adverse association between depression and coronary artery disease prognosis. Therefore, a depression screening program was initiated in the catheterization (cath) lab. The goals were to improve HEDIS depression compliance rates and determine the impact on clinical outcomes. Methods: Adult patients in an inpatient cath lab from 3 cardiology practices were screened for enrollment in a randomized controlled trial. All cath lab patients received a PHQ-9 depression screener. Those who screened positive for depression (score ≥ 10) were randomized to intervention or usual care. The usual care group received a follow-up phone call to re-administer the PHQ-9 at 6-8 weeks and within 210 days of discharge. The intervention group was administered the PHQ-9 and received intensive education at baseline, 6-8 weeks, and within 210 days of discharge. Education included targeted depression information with a mental health care provider and comprehensive disease management education with a cardiovascular nurse practitioner. Outcomes included: differences in HEDIS depression goal attainment; depression response/remission rates; and cardiovascular goals. Differences between groups were tested using chi-squared tests (categorical variables) and t-tests (continuous variables). Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between control (N=43) and intervention (N=40) groups, with the exception of significantly fewer African American patients in the control group (N=2, 4.7%) vs intervention (N=9, 22.5%). Changes in HEDIS goal attainment show that patients in the intervention group were slightly more likely to be referred to a provider to address depression (95.0% vs 86.0%, p=0.314), or receive meds for depression (65.0% vs 51.2%, p=0.219), but these differences are not statistically significant. More patients in the intervention group refused meds for depression compared to control (15.0% vs. 2.3%, p=0.041); have received blood work (65.0% vs 41.9%, p=0.030); and have received follow-up within 210 days (82.5% vs 46.5%, p<0.001). Treatment adjustment rate was higher in the intervention group compared to control (85.0% vs. 65.1%, p=0.037). Hospital readmission rate was similar between groups (p=0.896) and there was no difference in depression remission or response rates (p=0.426). Further, no differences were seen in cardiovascular surrogate outcome parameters, including cholesterol, A1c, CRP, or BNP between groups; except SGOT was significantly different between groups (-5.0 intervention vs 2.0 control p=0.045). Conclusions: These data demonstrate improvements in attaining a surrogate outcome measure of quality (HEDIS goals); however, this does not appear to translate to a significant clinical impact. Quality measures may need to be continuously reassessed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of care.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1801-1809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Nelson ◽  
V. Shane Pankratz ◽  
Donica M. Ghahate ◽  
Jeanette Bobelu ◽  
Thomas Faber ◽  
...  

Background and objectivesThe burden of CKD is greater in ethnic and racial minorities and persons living in rural communities, where access to care is limited.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsA 12-month clinical trial was performed in 98 rural adult Zuni Indians with CKD to examine the efficacy of a home-based kidney care program. Participants were randomized by household to receive usual care or home-based care. After initial lifestyle coaching, the intervention group received frequent additional reinforcement by community health representatives about adherence to medicines, diet and exercise, self-monitoring, and coping strategies for living with stress. The primary outcome was change in patient activation score, which assesses a participant’s knowledge, skill, and confidence in managing his/her own health and health care.ResultsOf 125 randomized individuals (63 intervention and 62 usual care), 98 (78%; 50 intervention and 48 usual care) completed the 12-month study. The average patient activation score after 12 months was 8.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.9 to 15.5) points higher in the intervention group than in the usual care group after adjusting for baseline score using linear models with generalized estimating equations. Participants randomized to the intervention had 4.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 16.7) times the odds of having a final activation level of at least three (“taking action”) than those in the usual care group. Body mass index declined by 1.1 kg/m2 (P=0.01), hemoglobin A1c declined by 0.7% (P=0.01), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein declined by 3.3-fold (P<0.001), and the Short-Form 12 Health Survey mental score increased by five points (P=0.002) in the intervention group relative to usual care.ConclusionsA home-based intervention improves participants’ activation in their own health and health care, and it may reduce risk factors for CKD in a rural disadvantaged population.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-12
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Keser ◽  
Rebecca A. Lorenz

Purpose: To examine the comprehensive provider and patient intervention (CPPI) compared to usual care (UC) on blood pressure control among newly diagnosed hypertensive patients treated in a nurse practitioner practice. Data Sources: CPPI included provider and patient education, electronic health record messages about the guidelines of the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7), and patient counseling. Blood pressure control (intervention group; CPPI) was assessed and compared to levels of newly diagnosed patients prior to the intervention (usual care group; UC). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tested for between-group differences and independent samples t test tested for within-group differences in blood pressure readings measured at initial visit and 12-week follow-up visit. Conclusions: There were no significant differences between the groups for mean blood pressure on Weeks 1 and 12. Patients in CPPI showed slightly greater improvement in blood pressure classification compared to UC. Follow-up phone calls allowed for identification of barriers for adherence with follow-up appointments. Implications for Practice: JNC-7 provides an evidence-based approach to diagnosis and management of hypertension. Understanding patient barriers to adherence with treatment may lead to more effective programs that address individual patient needs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Merel van Loon-van Gaalen ◽  
Britt van Winsen ◽  
M. Christien van der Linden ◽  
Jacobijn Gussekloo ◽  
Roos C. van der Mast

Abstract Background Older patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) are at increased risk for adverse outcomes. Transitional care programs offer close surveillance after discharge, but are costly. Telephone follow-up (TFU) may be a low-cost and feasible alternative for transitional care programs, but its effects on health-related outcomes are not clear. Aim We systematically reviewed the literature to evaluate the effects of TFU by health care professionals after ED discharge to an unassisted living environment on health-related outcomes in older patients compared to controls. Methods We conducted a multiple electronic database search up until December 2019 for controlled studies examining the effects of TFU by health care professionals for patients aged ≥65 years, discharged to an unassisted living environment from a hospital ED. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and risk of bias. Results Of the 748 citations, two randomized controlled trials (including a total of 2120 patients) met review selection criteria. In both studies, intervention group patients received a scripted telephone intervention from a trained nurse and control patients received a patient satisfaction survey telephone call or usual care. No demonstrable benefits of TFU were found on ED return visits, hospitalization, acquisition of prescribed medication, and compliance with follow-up appointments. However, many eligible patients were not included, because they were not reached or refused to participate. Conclusions No benefits of a scripted TFU call from a nurse were found on health services utilization and discharge plan adherence by older patients after ED discharge. As the number of high-quality studies was limited, more research is needed to determine the effect and feasibility of TFU in different older populations. PROSPERO registration number CRD42019141403.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. Callinan ◽  
Brianna Kenney ◽  
Lisa A. Hark ◽  
Ann P. Murchison ◽  
Yang Dai ◽  
...  

Lack of patient adherence with eye appointments can decrease ocular outcomes. This prospective, randomized, single-blinded controlled study assessed the effectiveness of multiple interventions in improving follow-up adherence to recommended eye appointments. Patients due for follow-up appointments were randomly assigned to usual care, automated intervention, or personal intervention. Automated-intervention patients and personal-intervention patients received a call one month prior to the recommended follow-up date, and a mailed appointment reminder letter. The call was automated for automated-intervention patients and personalized for personal-intervention patients. The primary outcome was adherence to the follow-up appointment. The secondary outcome was rate of appointment scheduling. Patients in the personal-intervention group had greater adherence to follow-up recommendations (38%) than patients in the usual care group (28%) and the automated-intervention group (30%). Personal intervention significantly increased appointment scheduling (51%) over usual care (32%) and automated intervention (36%). These results support systems-level changes to improve patient follow-up adherence in urban primary eye care settings.


2020 ◽  
pp. 001857872097388
Author(s):  
Abdel-Hameed I. Ebid ◽  
Mohamed A. Mobarez ◽  
Ramadan A. Ramadan ◽  
Mohamed A. Mahmoud

Aims: The primary aim of this current study was to investigate the impact of the clinical pharmacist interventions on glycemic control and other health-related clinical outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes in Egypt. Methods: A prospective trial was conducted on 100 patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes admitted in the diabetes outpatient’s clinics. Patients were randomly allocated into the clinical pharmacist intervention group and usual care group. In the intervention group, the clinical pharmacist, in collaboration with the physician had their patients receive pharmaceutical care interventions. In contrast, the usual care group patients received routine care without clinical pharmacist’s interference. Results: After 6-month of follow-up, of the average HbA1c and FBG values of the patients in the clinical pharmacist intervention group (HbA1c % from 8.6 to 7.0; FBG (mg/dL) from 167.5 to 121.5) decreased significantly compared to the usual care group patients (HbA1c % from 8.1 to 7.8; FBG (mg/dL) from 157.3 to 155.9) ( P < .05). Additionally, the results indicated that mean scores of patients ‘diabetes knowledge, medication adherence, and diabetes self-care activities of the patients in the clinical pharmacist group increased significantly compared to the control group ( P < .05). Conclusions: The study demonstrated an improvement in HbA1c, FBG, and lipid profile, in addition to self-reported medication adherence, diabetes knowledge, and diabetes self-care activities in patients with type 2 diabetes who received pharmaceutical care interventions. The study outcomes support the benefits and the need to integrate clinical pharmacist interventions in the multidisciplinary healthcare team in Egypt.


Author(s):  
Shaofan Chen ◽  
Dongfu Qian ◽  
Bo Burström

This study assessed the impact of an educational intervention on the knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) of Primary Health Care (PHC) professionals, as well as on the types of T2DM care services which they were able to provide. The intervention was carried out in collaboration with county hospitals. The study was conducted from 2015 to 2016 among 241 health care professionals in 18 township health centers and 55 village clinics in three counties in Jiangsu Province, randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. Participants in the intervention group received professional skills training sessions and team communication and were involved in regular meetings. The control group followed the routine work plan. At one-year follow up, the diabetes knowledge score, practice score, and attitudes score were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. A significantly higher proportion of health care professionals in the intervention group was able to provide services compared with the control group, for all types of services, except T2DM emergency treatment. The intervention among health care professionals in PHC had a positive impact on their professional diabetes skills, knowledge, attitudes, practices, and types of services they were able to provide, at one-year follow-up.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natthaporn Sudas Na Ayutthaya ◽  
Itsarawan Sakunrak ◽  
Teerapon Dhippayom

Objective. To evaluate the impact of telephone follow-up service on clinical outcomes in patients on warfarin when discharged from hospital. Methods. This randomized controlled trial was conducted at a general hospital in Thailand. Patients aged ≥20 years who were prescribed warfarin when discharged were eligible to participate in this study. They were randomly allocated, using a computer generated random number, to receive either telephone follow-up intervention or usual care. Participants in the intervention group received telephone follow-up by hospital pharmacists for three months. During each telephone call, pharmacists performed medicine use reviews and addressed any problems identified. Key Findings. A total of 50 patients participated in this study. The proportion of international normalized ratio (INR) values in the target range for the telephone follow-up group (36/79, 45.6%) was higher than that in the usual care group (19/79, 24.1%), p=0.005. The mean time in the therapeutic range (TTR) in the telephone follow-up group was also higher than that in the usual care group (49.8±34.3 versus 28.0±27.5, p=0.017). All patients in the usual care group experienced one or more out-of-range INR values (25/25, 100%) compared to 21 out of 25 (84%) in the telephone follow-up group, p=0.037. There was no difference between the two groups in the incidence of complications or adverse events associated with warfarin. Conclusions. The telephone follow-up service in recently discharged patients helps them achieve and maintain their INR target. This anticoagulant supportive service should be promoted to patients receiving warfarin therapy after discharge. This trial is registered with TCTR20180614006 (Thai Clinical Trials Registry).


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iréne Ericsson ◽  
Anne W. Ekdahl ◽  
Ingrid Hellström

Abstract Background The proportion of older people in the population has increased globally and has thus become a challenge in health and social care. There is good evidence that care based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is superior to the usual care found in acute hospital settings; however, the evidence is scarcer in community-dwelling older people. This study is a secondary outcome of a randomized controlled trial of community-dwelling older people in which the intervention group (IG) received CGA-based care by a geriatric mobile geriatric team (GerMoT). The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding, from the patients’ perspective, the experience of being a part of the IG for both the participants and their relatives. Methods Qualitative semistructured interviews of twenty-two community dwelling participants and eleven of their relatives were conducted using content analysis for interpretation. Results The main finding expressed by the participants and their relatives was in the form of feelings related to safety and security and being recognized. The participants found the care easily accessible, and that contacts could be taken according to needs by health care professionals who knew them. This is in accordance with person-centred care as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for older people in need of integrated care. Other positive aspects were recurrent health examinations and being given the time needed when seeking health care. Not all participants were positive as some found the information about the intervention to be unclear especially regarding whom to contact when in different situations. Conclusions CGA-based care of community-dwelling older people shows promising results as the participants in GerMoT found the care was giving a feeling of security and safety. They found the care easily accessible and that it was provided by health care professionals who knew them as a person and knew their health care problems. They found this to be in contrast to the usual care provided, but GerMoT care did not fulfill some people’s expectations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 145507252110078
Author(s):  
Thi-Thuy-Dung Nguyen ◽  
Eleonor Säfsten ◽  
Filip Andersson ◽  
Maria Rosaria Galanti

Aim: This two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial explored the effectiveness of a brief counselling model compared with the usual multi-session counselling at an alcohol telephone helpline. Methods: A total of 320 callers who contacted the Swedish Alcohol Helpline (SAH) because of hazardous or harmful alcohol use were randomised to either brief structured intervention (self-help booklet plus one proactive call) or usual care (multi-session telephone counselling). The primary outcome was a downward shift in risk level at 12-month follow-up compared with baseline, based on self-reports. Sustained risk level reduction throughout the whole follow-up was also assessed as secondary outcome. Results: Both interventions were significantly associated with a shift to a lower level of risky alcohol use (75% among participants in the brief structured intervention, and 70% in the usual care group) after 12 months. There was no difference between the two interventions in the proportions changing alcohol use or sustaining risk level reduction. Conclusion: In the context of telephone helplines, minimal and extended interventions appear to be equally effective in promoting long-term change in alcohol use.


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