(1241) The Value of a Pharmacist-led Remote Patient Monitoring Service

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to determine the value created by the pharmacist-led remote patient monitoring (RPM) service for the clinic.

Methods: Our study will be a descriptive study to determine the value pharmacists add to a newly developed RPM service. Pharmacists at one regional division of a large community pharmacy chain in Arkansas have a collaboration agreement with three local primary care practices. The pharmacists from the community pharmacy chain work 20 hours per week in each of the three clinics and provide services to manage many patients with uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes. Due to successful collaboration in the past, the primary care practice recently approved the development of a pharmacist-led RPM service. Last year, a developmental formative evaluation was conducted using qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews with the primary care clinic staff. This evaluation determined service acceptability, anticipated service utilization, and preferences for the workflow and design of the RPM service. The layout and design of the RPM service is centered around patient referrals, preferred patients, the online dashboard, and the therapy intervention. Although there were potential barriers in the study, researchers provided insight into the best way the pharmacist-led RPM service could be implemented, patient populations that would benefit the most from the service, and how the opportunity for community pharmacists to expand their role in a primary care clinic will provide additional care to patients. Implementation of the RPM service is planned to begin in September of 2023.

The new RPM service's implementation will be divided into two phases: phase 1 and phase 2. During phase 1, we will enroll a small number (5-10 patients) into the RPM service to learn more about billing and insurance preferences for RPM and finalize best practices for workflow. During phase 2, we will increase enrollment to more than 50 patients and deploy finalized workflow.

The value of pharmacy services will be measured through both phases of the service implementation through data collection via the RPM dashboard and manual chart review. Data collected will include total number of patients enrolled in service, number of billable claims, RPM pharmacist time spent providing services, revenue generated, and the number and types of interventions completed, such as change in therapy or patient education. During phase 1, we will meet regularly with staff to determine needed changes to workflow and to ensure successful implementation.

Results: Research in progress. Results will be presented at the 2024 APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Conclusions: N/a