Association between pharmacist-led telehealth services and improvements in cardiovascular outcomes among patients with cardiovascular risk factors: A scoping review

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally. Despite the effectiveness of lifestyle changes and recommended therapeutics, access to primary care and treatments to improve cardiovascular risk-factors (CRFs) remains challenging. Pharmacists and telehealth services have been proposed as potential solutions to overcome these barriers. METHODS: PubMed, OVID, and CINAHL databases were searched from January 2006 to March 2023. The primary outcomes were changes from baseline in systolic/diastolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin (A1c), cholesterol levels, and adherence to any patient counseling. Only studies conducted in the United States and Canada were included in the review. RESULTS: Of 110 screened bibliographic records, 14 studies were included in the review. The pharmacist-led telehealth interventions included medication therapy management, medication reviews, and counseling on lifestyle changes. Nine studies reported significant improvements with intervention, 7 studies on CRFs and 2 studies on medication adherence at the 12-month follow-up, when pharmacist-led telehealth services were compared to usual care or historical data (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This scoping review provides evidence for continued support to the development and implementation of pharmacist-led telehealth services in primary cardiovascular care. The findings suggest that pharmacist-led telehealth interventions can improve cardiovascular outcomes and adherence to drug and non-drug therapy among patients with CRFs. However, because of lack of published randomized clinical studies on patients with CRFs residing in underserved communities, future directions in research should focus on exploring the implementation of pharmacist-led telehealth services in rural or underserved communities, utilizing various payment models to enhance accessibility and feasibility.