This study is a pragmatic pilot study assessing the feasibility and acceptability, and preliminary impact of a pharmacist-led care pathway to align patient care with guidelines for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) management in frail older adults, leveraging existing resources and pathways of care led by Clinical Prescribing Pharmacists. Eligible participants will be identified from the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Research staff will then approach the primary care physicians for identified patients to confirm that patients are appropriate for the intervention, as determined by the primary care physician (PCP). Patients will then be contacted both by letter and phone call, and invited to participate in the pharmacist-led pathway. Telephonic informed consent will be obtained. Outcomes for all participants will be accessed passively via the EHR. The study team hypothesizes that patients who go through the pharmacist-led primary care intervention will be more likely to have guideline-concordant medical therapy as compared with an EHR-based control group. Also, the study team believes that the intervention will reach at least 50% of those referred by their physicians to participate, the median number of outpatient visits will be three or less, and that the intervention will require a total of <3 hours for pharmacists and patients across the 3-month intervention period. In addition, the study team expects patients, physicians, and pharmacists will report the intervention is feasible, acceptable, appropriate, and high-value. Lastly, the study team believes that the intervention group will have a lower mortality than the comparison group.
The purpose of this research is to explore whether a pharmacist-led diabetes management program can help optimize diabetes care for older adults. Participation in this study will involve meeting with a pharmacist who works with subjects' doctors, getting some routine bloodwork typical for people with diabetes, and potentially adjusting the subject's diabetes medications to reach American Diabetes Association guidelines. This study aims to bring older adults with diabetes whose measurements and medications are different from the guidelines of the American Diabetes Association into guidelines-based ranges.