July 18, 2018 - Marc O'Connor in Specialty Pharmacy Times - Done well, pharmacist-led care management programs attack multiple underlying causes that commonly hinder treatment and nonadherence among patients with HIV and other chronic conditions. Patients often suffer from depression, denial about their condition, and embarrassment and face logistical challenges that prevent them from accessing care, including critical, regular lab work.
Our colleagues at Chattanooga CARES are taking a hands-on, personalized approach to the way their pharmacy and partners use care management to improve access to care, medication adherence, and outcomes for patients with HIV. Below are the challenges the program addresses and the solutions implemented to date that have resulted in adherence levels of greater than 90% across the target program population, as measured by viral load in the early stages of the care management program.
TOP CHALLENGES
Charlie was referred to Chattanooga CARES’ care management program in July 2017. He was an ideal fit for the program: He hadn’t been to the clinic or on HIV medication since November 2016. Despite repeated phone calls to the patient to come in for a checkup and to pick up his medication refill, the staff could not reach him and were unable to schedule an appointment.
DENIAL AND DEPRESSION
When the care management program staff finally reached him, Charlie admitted he was struggling with his HIV diagnosis and did not like taking his medication because it reminded him of the disease. That aside, he couldn’t even get a prescription for his medication without going to the clinic for a scheduled office visit.
To read more about how Curant's clinical team worked with Charlie to significantly reduce his viral load and number of medications while improving his outlook on living with HIV, click here.
To talk to a Curant team member about our care management programs, give us a call at 866-276-7906.