NACDS lauds studies showing pharmacists are critical in team-based healthcare delivery

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores lauded recommendations released by the Community Preventive Services Task Force illustrating that team-based care can improve blood-pressure control for patients.



The studies, which specifically cited pharmacists as critical in the team-based approach to patient care, emphasized the importance of collaboration among healthcare professionals in ensuring improved patient care.



“When pharmacists were added to teams, the median improvement in the proportion of patients with controlled blood pressure was considerably higher than the overall median increase for this outcome,” the findings concluded.



The evidence was based on the findings of 77 studies of team-based care organized primarily with nurses and pharmacists working in collaboration with primary care providers, patients and other professionals.



The report also found that health team members complement the role of the primary care provider by having the team support and share responsibilities for hypertension care — such as medication management, patient follow-up and helping the patient adhere to their blood-pressure control plan, including health behavior change.



“We are pleased with the recommendations by the Community Preventive Services Task Force.  Collaboration of healthcare professionals — including community pharmacists — is a key component of helping to improve patient care,” stated NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson. “Community pharmacists counsel patients on taking medications as directed by their physicians, administer flu shots and other vaccines to help patients stay healthy, and they provide a number of other services such as preventive health screenings — including blood-pressure testing. Community pharmacy provides unsurpassed value in improving patient health and reducing healthcare costs in the healthcare delivery system.”



The Community Preventive Services Task Force is an independent, nonfederal, unpaid body of public health and prevention experts that provides evidence-based findings about community preventive programs, services and policies to improve health.

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