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

• Main Authors: Jan D. Hirsch, Nancy Kong, Kevin T. Nguyen, Christine L. Cadiz, Crystal Zhou, Sarah A. Bajorek, Mark Bounthavong, Candis M. Morello
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: medication adherence; diabetes; pharmacist–patient relations; patient satisfaction; pharmacist; glycemic control
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/9242

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 (<i>p</i> = 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 (<i>p</i> < 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 (<i>p</i> = 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.