Stephen Kogut, PhD, MBA RPh, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, Highlights the Impact of Pharmacists in Diabetes Care and Ambulatory Settings

This project highlighted the value pharmacists provide in the ambulatory care setting and exemplifies the URI College of Pharmacy’s ideals for progressive pharmacy practice. 

Most notably, Dr. Kelley Sanzen’s leadership and astute vision for this project were instrumental to the success achieved. Her vision was to positively impact patients with diabetes by effectively utilizing ambulatory care pharmacists and implementing reimbursable services in primary care to create a sustainable model for care team expansion.  

The participating pharmacists displayed exemplary skill at the practice sites in executing this challenging initiative, which entailed identifying candidate patients, establishing new workflows, and managing data for evaluating clinical outcomes. Pharmacists and care team members used continuous glucose monitoring and their skill sets to educate patients on self-management skills which allowed patients to optimize food choices, increase physical activity, understand results from glucose monitoring, and adhere to medication regimens as cornerstones of diabetes care. 

Overall, using professional continuous glucose monitoring substantially improved glycemic control, yielding an impressive 10% mean reduction in A1c levels after 3 months. Moreover, a substantial number of patients completing this program subsequently obtained a personal continuous glucose device for ongoing intensified monitoring. From a sustainability perspective, 2 of the participating practices were able to successfully implement billing processes to gain reimbursement for professional continuous glucose monitoring services provided with 2 additional sites nearing implementation at the project conclusion.

The College of Pharmacy was excited to be involved in this pioneering initiative and looks forward to continued collaboration with CTC-RI and our funder UnitedHealthcare to continue to demonstrate the vital role of pharmacists in patient care.