Diabetic Outcomes for a Pharmacist-Run Program in an Employer-Based Wellness Clinic

Indianapolis, IN

Businesses and insurers provide wellness clinics offering preventive care services for their employees. Butler University Healthy Horizons is one such clinic utilizing clinical pharmacists who help individuals in implementation of wellness measures for prevention or better management of medical conditions and to improve their quality of life. Implementation of these wellness clinics has demonstrated cost savings by alerting employees of guideline recommendations, immunizations, and identifying risk factors and early stages of chronic diseases. Diabetes, including prediabetes, is one medical condition where early intervention and implementation of wellness measures has resulted in significant benefits for patients and cost savings for the employer. Healthy Horizons has health screenings focused on identification of prediabetes and diabetes including hemoglobin A1c and body weight measurements allowing the clinical pharmacists implementation of earlier wellness consult intervention strategies (e.g. weight loss, healthier nutrition choices, etc.) with the employees. The primary objective of this retrospective study was to determine if wellness consult interventions have resulted in improved patient measurements. Individuals greater than 18 years of age with either a diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes and two hemoglobin A1c measurements were included. Employee visits between January 2015 and February 2018 were reviewed. Differences in Hemoglobin A1c, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. To date, visits of 382 employees have been evaluated and identified 88 unique individuals with prediabetes or diabetes and at least two A1c measurements. Further results are pending.