Pharmacist-Led Rx Intervention to Manage Hypertension Saves Lives, Money

TUESDAY, Nov. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A pharmacist-prescribing intervention to improve blood pressure (BP) control could provide high economic value compared with usual care, according to a study published online Nov. 3 in JAMA Network Open. 

Dave L. Dixon, Pharm.D., from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and colleagues estimated the cost-effectiveness of implementing a pharmacist-prescribing intervention to improve BP control in the United States. The analysis compared the pharmacist-prescribing intervention used in The Alberta Clinical Trial in Optimizing Hypertension (or RxACTION) versus an active intervention, including a BP wallet card, education, and usual care. 

The researchers found that during a 30-year time horizon, the pharmacist-prescribing intervention yielded 2,100 fewer cases of cardiovascular (CV) disease and eight fewer cases of kidney disease per 10,000 U.S. patients. The intervention was also associated with 0.34 additional life years and 0.62 additional quality-adjusted life years. The pharmacist-prescribing intervention led to cost savings of $10,162 per person due to fewer CV events, even after the cost of the visits and medication adjustments. In more conservative analyses, the intervention continued to produce benefits despite increased costs as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ranged from $2,093 to $24,076. A 50 percent intervention uptake at the population level was associated with $1.137 trillion in cost savings and would save an estimated 30.2 million life years over 30 years.

"The necessary tools and resources are readily available to implement pharmacist-prescribing interventions across the U.S.; however, reimbursement limitations remain a barrier," the authors write.

Several authors reported financial ties to industry.

Abstract/Full Text