The Importance of Monitoring Blood Pressure

As mentioned in our LinkedIn Post, there is a huge need to identify high-risk patients who need hypertension management. In one retrospective cohort study published by the American Journal of Managed Care, the impact of a pharmacist intervention on blood pressure control was studied. The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of the chronic medication optimization pharmacist (CMOP) program on blood pressure control and time to goal compared with usual care in the ambulatory care setting. This study included patients aged 18 to 80 years old from June 2018 to June 2020 who were seen in an ambulatory clinic for hypertension management. The patients were then split into 2 cohorts: by usual care or the CMOP program. If patients were enrolled in the CMOP program, it was either by referral or identification via a data analytic tool.

The primary outcome measured the proportion of patients within blood pressure goal (>140/90 mm Hg) at 3 months and the second outcome measured the proportion of patients within goal at 6 months, time and number of visits to goal, and adherence. The results showed that there was a greater proportion of patients within goal in the CMOP cohort compared to usual care and that this cohort also showed a greater proportion of patients achieving the goal within 6 months and faster time to goal, but more visits. In regard to adherence, it improved from 50.4% to 72.1% in patients with a documented adherence assessment in the pharmacist group. Overall, this study showed that pharmacist intervention improved blood pressure control in a primarily African American patient population compared with usual care.

Source: https://www.ajmc.com/view/pharmacist-hypertension-management-using-an-electronic-health-record-based-approach