Building Collaborative Heart Failure Care Through a Community Pharmacy Certificate Program and Community Pharmacist-Physician Network

BACKGROUND: Limited evidence exists on the implementation of community-based heart failure (HF) care with community pharmacists. OBJECTIVES: The goal of the pilot study was to evaluate the impact of collaborative HF care through the development of a community pharmacy certificate program and new partnerships between community pharmacists and providers. METHODS: The pilot project was a 1-year prospective cohort study. Community pharmacists were educated through the certificate program. The patient inclusion criteria were adult patients with HF. Community pharmacists provided patients with comprehensive education about HF medication, HF self-care, diet, and vaccine at enrollment. Pharmacist interventions included: 1) guideline-directed medical therapy optimization; 2) medication education; 3) HF self-care education; 4) adherence optimization; 5) cost mitigation strategies; 6) managing medications worsening HF; 7) immunizations; and 8) dietary education. Each patient was prospectively followed for 6 months. RESULTS: Three pharmacies were selected as pilot sites. Following completion of the certificate course, all 3 pharmacists passed the exam achieving above 80% on their first attempt. A total of 34 patients were enrolled in the study. All patients received comprehensive education at the initial follow-up encounter with community pharmacists. A total of 80 interventions were performed, of which 30 (37.5%) were accepted. The most accepted intervention was a vaccine (13 patient-accepted interventions), followed by seven accepted adherence-related interventions, five HF guideline-directed medical therapy interventions, 3 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug discontinuation interventions, and two cost-mitigation strategy interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The development and implementation of a HF community pharmacy certificate program prepared 3 community pharmacists to participate in collaborative HF care with cardiology providers. Certified pharmacists delivered comprehensive education to patients with HF and provided a wide range of clinical interventions supporting the potential role of community pharmacists in HF management.