Pharmacist-Physician Collaboration Improves Pediatric Hypertension Outcomes

Pharmacist-physician collaborative drug therapy management improved outcomes compared with traditional care in pediatric patients with hypertension, according to a single-clinic study published in The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

“We found that this approach improves rates of at-goal blood pressure, time to at-goal blood pressure, and appointment adherence without compromising patient safety,” wrote corresponding author Bryan J. Donald, PharmD, of the University of Louisiana Monroe College of Pharmacy in Monroe, Louisiana, and coauthors.

The study compared two groups of patients with hypertension at a pediatric cardiology clinic in Northeast Louisiana: 115 patients received traditional care in 2018 and 2019, and 151 patients received collaborative drug therapy management in 2020 and 2021.

Achievement of at-goal blood pressure at 12 months occurred in 54% of patients in the collaborative drug therapy management group compared with 36% of patients in the traditional care group, according to the study. Median time to control of blood pressure was 63.5 days with collaborative drug therapy management and 107.5 days with traditional care.

In other findings, appointment nonadherence was 9.4% in the collaborative drug therapy management group compared with 16% in the traditional care group. The groups had similar rates of adverse events.

“Physician-pharmacist collaboration is permitted in most US jurisdictions, so provided resources such as pharmacist time and clinic space can be allocated, our practice model could be reasonably emulated and improve patient management in a variety of settings,” researchers advised.

Reference

Donald BJ, King TD, Phillips BL, et al. Physician-pharmacist collaborative drug therapy management in pediatric hypertension. J Pediatr Pharmacol Ther. 2023;28(3):204-211. doi:10.5863/1551-6776-28.3.204