Assessing the impact of pharmacist-led interventions on glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist access and treatment outcomes.

IF 3.3 4区医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy Pub Date : 2026-06-01 DOI:10.18553/jmcp.2026.32.6.651

Haley Huddleston, Jodi Martinez, Jerilyn Cook, Melissa Trapp, Nai-Chia Chen, Kelsey Schwander, Sarah Moss, Surabhi Palkimas

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have gained popularity because of their demonstrated efficacy in weight loss, resulting in access barriers such as delays due to prior authorizations (PAs), insurance coverage restrictions, and limited availability. The national average for PA turnaround times is currently 72 hours. To offer solutions to these barriers, the University of Colorado Hospital (UCHealth) has integrated a pharmacy team into their primary care practice setting to provide specialized support to enhance access.

Objective: To evaluate how pharmacist-led interventions affected PA turnaround times for GLP-1 RAs prescribed for weight loss. Additionally, we aimed to characterize these interventions to better understand the pharmacist's role in integrated care teams for weight management.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used UCHealth electronic health records to evaluate pharmacist-led interventions identified by multistep order transmittal workflow in September 2024. The primary endpoint was PA turnaround time. The secondary endpoints included time to GLP-1 RA initiation, qualitative assessments of pharmacist-led interventions, and dosing optimizations. Survival analyses and descriptive analyses were conducted for time-to-event and qualitative endpoints.

Results: A total of 142 patients were included in this study. Fifty-six patients were observed in the PA-approved group and 86 patients in the PA-denied group. The median turnaround time for any PA decision was 19.87 hours (95% CI = 6.88-23.58). PA approvals had a median turnaround time of 47.1 hours (95% CI = 23.4-69.6), whereas PA denials had 3.6 hours (95% CI = 2.4-16.7) (P = 0.0072). Documented interventions included patient updates on PA status, insurance plan criteria reviews, provider collaboration, alternative therapy recommendations, copay resources, insurance outreach, and dose clarification.

Conclusions: Integrating pharmacists into care teams can enhance GLP-1 RA PA turnaround times while improving medication access, safety, and continuity of care. These findings support further research and policy development in pharmacist interventions in PA process and GLP-1 RA management.

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评估药师主导的干预对胰高血糖素样肽1受体激动剂获取和治疗结果的影响。

背景：胰高血糖素样肽1受体激动剂（GLP-1 RAs）因其在减肥方面的疗效而越来越受欢迎，但由于事先批准（PAs）、保险范围限制和有限的可用性而导致获得延迟等障碍。目前PA的全国平均周转时间为72小时。为了解决这些障碍，科罗拉多大学医院（UCHealth）将一个药房团队整合到他们的初级保健实践环境中，提供专业支持，以提高获取机会。目的：评估药剂师主导的干预措施如何影响减肥处方GLP-1 RAs的PA周转时间。此外，我们的目的是表征这些干预措施，以更好地了解药剂师在体重管理综合护理团队中的作用。方法：本回顾性队列研究使用uhealth电子健康记录，评估2024年9月通过多步骤订单传递工作流确定的药剂师主导的干预措施。主要终点为PA周转时间。次要终点包括GLP-1 RA起始时间、药剂师主导的干预措施的定性评估和剂量优化。对事件发生时间和定性终点进行生存分析和描述性分析。结果：本研究共纳入142例患者。pa批准组56例，pa拒绝组86例。任何PA决策的中位周转时间为19.87小时（95% CI = 6.88-23.58）。PA批准的中位周转时间为47.1小时（95% CI = 23.4-69.6），而PA拒绝的中位周转时间为3.6小时（95% CI = 2.4-16.7）（P = 0.0072）。记录的干预措施包括患者对PA状态的更新、保险计划标准审查、提供者合作、替代治疗建议、共同支付资源、保险外展和剂量说明。结论：将药师纳入护理团队可以缩短GLP-1 RA - PA的周转时间，同时改善药物可及性、安全性和护理的连续性。这些发现支持药师干预PA过程和GLP-1 RA管理的进一步研究和政策制定。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy Health Professions-Pharmacy

CiteScore

3.50

自引率

4.80%

发文量

131

期刊介绍： JMCP welcomes research studies conducted outside of the United States that are relevant to our readership. Our audience is primarily concerned with designing policies of formulary coverage, health benefit design, and pharmaceutical programs that are based on evidence from large populations of people. Studies of pharmacist interventions conducted outside the United States that have already been extensively studied within the United States and studies of small sample sizes in non-managed care environments outside of the United States (e.g., hospitals or community pharmacies) are generally of low interest to our readership. However, studies of health outcomes and costs assessed in large populations that provide evidence for formulary coverage, health benefit design, and pharmaceutical programs are of high interest to JMCP’s readership.