Comparative effectiveness research: evaluating pharmacist interventions and strategies to improve medication adherence

Abstract

One very effective strategy to achieve good blood pressure (BP) control in primary care is the use of physician/pharmacist collaborative management. Interventions by pharmacists in both community pharmacies and primary care clinics have been shown to significantly reduce BP by both improving medication adherence and intensifying medications. This review will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various health services' research study designs that assess various pharmacy interventions to improve BP control. We will also evaluate strategies to measure medication adherence used in research studies, and in some cases, clinical practice. Although poor medication adherence is a major cause of inadequate BP control, suboptimal medication regimens are often more common reasons for poor BP control in typical primary care practice. This review proposes strategies to implement stronger interventions and more robust study designs in comparative effectiveness trials that evaluate team-based care for improving BP control.