From MedPage Today:
The proportion of individuals who were ultimately prescribed any statin reached 31.6% out of all eligible patients, a significant improvement over usual care’s 15.2% (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.47-3.37). Similarly, there was an increase in prescriptions of appropriate-dose statins (24.8% vs 7.7%, OR 6.79, 95% CI 4.00-11.53), reported Alexander Fanaroff, MD, MHS, of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, at the American Heart Association (AHA)opens in a new tab or window annual meeting.
“A centralized asynchronous model could be an effective adjunct to visit-based clinical interactions in increasing statin prescribing for high-risk patients,” Fanaroff told the audience.
Based on SUPER LIPID, the tested pharmacist-led approach produced an increase in statin prescribing that was much larger than other approaches in previous trials.
“A centralized approach removes the key barrier in that a patient has to have a visit with the doctor to be prescribed a statin. Many less engaged patients either do not visit the doctor, or when they do, may not be amenable to discussing a statin. Patient visits are also short in duration and sometimes not everything that needs to be discussed can be addressed,” commented Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA, of Ascension Health in St. Louis.