How does CCLCF support rural health and human services (HHS) departments?

One of our area’s most vulnerable populations is those individuals who lack access to or resources for their health care, especially those who are uninsured or under-insured and living in rural areas of NC. In an effort to address this unmet need, CCLCF has teamed up with one of the local Health Departments to provide focused care to patients with health conditions that, if left untreated or unmonitored, could potentially lead to disabling complications.

Using a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner

Recently, one of our pharmacists has begun working with the health department (HD) in Duplin County to provide direct patient care to patients with chronic conditions such as Diabetes, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia and Thromboembolic Disease. These conditions can require complex medication regimens for controlling symptoms and preventing long-term complications such as cardiovascular disease, blindness, and kidney disease. Pharmacists who provide these direct patient care services often are recognized as a CPP or Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner by the Medical and Pharmacy Boards of North Carolina through a credentialing and privileging process. As such, the CPP, utilizing a Collaborative Practice Agreement (CPA) with a supervising physician, can see patients in the clinic of the HD and prescribe therapies and monitor these therapies as authorized by the CPA. Many of these patients are under-insured or uninsured, making their medication needs even more complicated.

Supporting a patient’s long-term goals

The CPP utilizes other skills such as motivational interviewing in order to help patients identify how they can, and why they want to, improve their overall health. The HD director understands the needs of these patients. The goal of the pharmacist-driven care is to optimize the medication regimen in a comprehensive way which includes a great deal of education for the patients in an effort to lead to better self-management in the long-term.

To learn more about CCLCF Pharmacy Offerings and Opportunities, contact us at 910-763-0200.