Factors associated with A1C reduction with GLP-1 agonist or SGLT-2 inhibitor use.

Background: While use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors reduces the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease outcomes and lowers glycosylated haemoglobin (A1C), evidence on patient characteristics associated with clinically relevant A1C reduction is lacking.

Objective: The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to identify patient characteristics associated with A1C reduction with initial GLP-1 or SGLT-2 use.

Methods: Patients with type 2 diabetes and a baseline A1C ≥7% who were dispensed a GLP-1 or SGLT-2 between 01/01/10 and 12/31/17 were included.

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Stability in Patients Prescribed Synthetic or Desiccated Thyroid Products: A Retrospective Study.

The purpose of this retrospective matched-cohort study was to evaluate the stability of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in patients using synthetic compared with desiccated thyroid products. Patients using a thyroid product for the treatment of hypothyroidism were matched 1:1 on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and had a follow-up period of 3 years after the index date. The primary outcome was percent of in-range TSH values.

Opioid Use for Pain Management After Implementation of a Medicaid Short-Acting Opioid Quantity Limit.

Background: The United States is currently experiencing an opioid abuse epidemic. Many policies and programs have been implemented at local, state, and national levels in an attempt to decrease prescription opioid addiction and overdose. On August 1, 2014, Colorado Medicaid implemented a policy change that limited the quantity of short-acting opioids (SAOs) that could be filled through the Medicaid benefit to no more than 4 tablets per day, or 120 tablets in 30 days.

Implementation of a peer review process to improve documentation consistency of care process indicators in the EMR in a primary care setting.

Background: Kaiser Permanente Colorado is a group model nonprofit HMO that provides health care services to more than 500,000 members. The Primary Care Clinical Pharmacy Services (PCCPS) department consists of 33 clinical pharmacy specialists (CPS), who are located in 19 primary care clinics.

Objectives: To develop and implement a peer review process to (a) improve the consistency of documentation of process indicators in the electronic medical record (EMR), (b) ensure compliance with existing standards, and (c) share best practices among PCCPS with varying geographical locations and practice styles.

Physician adherence to blood pressure guidelines and its effect on seniors.

Study Objective: To compare physician adherence to guidelines from the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure for patients younger than 65 years of age with those aged 65 years and older, and to analyze whether factor groupings (subsets of criteria used to determine adherence) were predictive of blood pressure control.

Design: Retrospective medical record review.

Setting: Five university-affiliated family medicine and internal medicine outpatient clinics.

Description of pharmacist interventions during physician-pharmacist co-management of hypertension.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe recommendations made by clinical pharmacists when co-managing hypertension with physicians.

Setting: Two family medicine clinics at a major teaching hospital in the mid-western United States.

Method: This report details the specific recommendations made by pharmacists during a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.

Explicit and implicit evaluation of physician adherence to hypertension guidelines.

This study evaluated physician adherence to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) hypertension guidelines in 6 community-based clinics. Explicit review of retrospective medical record data for patients with uncontrolled hypertension measured guideline adherence using 22 criteria. Mean overall guideline adherence was 53.

Utility of a questionnaire to measure physician-pharmacist collaborative relationships.

Objective: To examine the sensitivity and criterion validity of the 14-item Physician/Pharmacist Collaboration Index (PPCI).

Design: Substudy of an unblinded, randomized trial of pharmacist interventions with patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

Setting: 6 intervention and 6 control pharmacies in eastern Iowa.

Assessment of oral bisphosphonate use in elderly patients with varying degrees of kidney function.

Background: Oral bisphosphonates are prescribed for millions of men and women in the United States who have osteopenia or osteoporosis. However, there are limited data on the use of oral bisphosphonates in patients with kidney impairment.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in calculated creatinine clearance (CrCl) and reported adverse events in elderly patients with varying degrees of kidney function who were taking oral bisphosphonate therapy.

Measuring adherence to practice guidelines for the management of hypertension: an evaluation of the literature.

Adherence to practice guidelines is frequently used as a measure of quality of care. Numerous studies have evaluated physician adherence to hypertension guidelines by prescription data, physician survey data, or medical record review. However, most have methodological limitations that might underestimate physician adherence.