DPH Office of Pharmacy Participates in National Collaborative to Address Chronic Diseases

The Office of Pharmacy is participating in a national learning Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative movement to increase clinical pharmacy services, improve health outcomes and patient safety. This collaboration is among teams of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded providers and their community-based, safety-net partners who serve patients with multiple chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, HIV, and hypertension. A key component is to demonstrate that the integration of clinical pharmacy services makes a crucial and affordable contribution to improving health outcomes and impacting patient safety.

The collaboration is a patient-centered, interdisciplinary team approach, supported by systems of partnerships. The Office of Pharmacy has partnered with Columbus Regional Medical Center, the Medical Center Pharmacy, Inc., a disproportionate share hospital; Valley Healthcare System, Inc., a federally qualified health center; Auburn University, Harrison School of Pharmacy; Fulton County Health & Wellness, a county health department; and the Georgia Medical Care Foundation, a quality improvement organization.

Due to this collaborative, from November 2010 to June 2011, 250 diabetic patients received clinical pharmacy services at the Medical Center Pharmacy. The pharmacists used HbA1c to see how well the patients were controlling their diabetes. HbA1c is a lab test that shows the average amount of sugar in your blood over three months. The greatest percentage change of documented health improvement for Georgians living with chronic diseases was 30.8 percent. Also, an average of 3.38 potential adverse drug reactions were identified and prevented per month.

The Office of Pharmacy is working towards achieving a high-performing system of care in Georgia, using patient-centered approaches to improve health outcomes by focusing on an integrated care model that includes clinical pharmacy services. For more information about the collaborative, visit  http://www.hrsa.gov/publichealth/clinical/patientsafety/about.html.

-Story by Kimberley Hazelwood, PharmD, Director of Pharmacy, Georgia Department of Public Health

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