On July 20, 2023, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced Project IMPACT: CGM Access to enhance access to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for individuals with diabetes.
This one-of-a-kind program will empower pharmacists to prescribe and support CGM access outside the normal doctor’s office and in community pharmacies.
The pilot credentialing program will likely be launched in collaboration with 20 community pharmacies—a mixture of chain and independent retailers—with a goal of fifty patients per site, together with five health plans in america. The final word goal is to enhance access to quality diabetes look after patients. All pharmacies participating in phase one in every of the pilot program have already been enrolled.
On this program, the pharmacy work flow will integrate prescribing, dissemination and training patients with CGM devices. It’s going to also be certain that pharmacists receive equitable payment for these services through health insurers.
Beyond Type 1 sat down with Robert E. Nichols, PharmD, BCPS, a clinical pharmacist based in Waterloo, Iowa, who helped develop and can take part in the pilot program.
Innovating diabetes care
Dr. Nichols says this system will work by innovating how pharmacists are in a position to handle patients. Through their partnership with APhA and crucial feedback from patients with diabetes, they developed a model for integrating strategies for pharmacists to assist patients overcome insurance barriers to CGM access, right on the pharmacy counter.
Dr. Nichols identified that there’s lots of confusion over medical health insurance coverage for CGM, especially in state Medicaid programs, as coverage can vary by state.
Pharmacists are strategically equipped to assist patients navigate this confusion, and thru this pilot program will give you the option to tackle these barriers and get more CGMs into the hands of people that need them.
“Community pharmacists are well positioned, accessible, trusted by patients and might provide great care to individuals who may not otherwise receive care. This pilot [program] will produce critical data to support the inclusion of CGM services within the suite of patient care services offered locally pharmacy setting to extend access to quality diabetes care,” said Benjamin Bluml, executive director and svp of research & innovation on the APhA Foundation.
Why CGMs are needed
CGMs are a normal of care for people living with type 1 diabetes and people with type 2 diabetes who use insulin. Nevertheless, many individuals with diabetes lack access to CGM care and the providers who can prescribe—and train on the best way to use—CGMs.
Because roughly 90 percent of Americans live inside five miles of a pharmacy, this pilot seeks to fill the gap in care by utilizing pharmacists—who can offer patient care and CGM services—right there on the pharmacy counter.
Dr. Nichols said features of the pilot include training for pharmacists to initiate using CGMs and include the event of a pharmacist certification training program for CGM by APhA. Establishing a credentialing process that gives pharmacists with a reimbursement structure for CGM services is important to this project.
Long run, the goal is scaling the project to a national model to repeatedly provide CGM services in most pharmacies across the country.
As patients receive pharmacist-provided CGM care right on the pharmacy counter, the goal is that their overall health will improve, proving the concept and the worth of receiving CGM services in pharmacies.
“Helmsley recognizes that pharmacists are trusted providers embedded inside communities and are a vital a part of the diabetes care team,” said Laurel Koester, program officer at Helmsley. “Our partnership with The APhA Foundation gives us confidence that Project IMPACT: CGM Access will take us one step closer to creating CGM services more accessible.”
Getting enrolled
Dr. Nichols is worked up and hopeful about this project. He says, “That is the worth that pharmacists can bring. I’m hoping that this project is an incredible success to assist improve access to CGMs for individuals with diabetes.”
He continues, “Providing the chance to have access to something that my patients have been asking about for years, and is proven to work, is incredible. We’re finally giving them the keys to the dominion of their very own health. We’re not only helping them with their blood sugar management, but we’re improving their quality of life and making it just just a little easier to live with diabetes. That’s what that is all about.”
Enrollment for this system will likely be ongoing through the autumn of 2023, after which patients will receive monthly monitoring and management services throughout the remaining of the yr and into 2024.
For those who currently have diabetes but do not need CGM access, refer to your doctor about getting a prescription and ask your pharmacist in the event that they are participating within the pilot program. CGM costs and coverage will rely on what kind of medical health insurance you carry and can vary by plan.
This content mentions the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, an energetic partner of Beyond Type 1.
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