As a person living with diabetes, Delaware Gerald makes frequent trips to the Professional Pharmacy in Marion, for medication, foot care products or blood glucose monitoring strips.

Since she became a part of the Partners in Care program, when Gerald visits the pharmacy she leaves not only with medical supplies, but with a better knowledge of how to manage her disease.

Initiated by MUSC’s College of Pharmacy, Partners in Care is a pilot project that seeks to determine whether specially trained community pharmacists collaborating with physicians can help patients adhere to the American Diabetes Association treatment guidelines to improve their quality of life and decrease related health care costs.

“Through regular counseling sessions, the pharmacist becomes another set of eyes and ears to monitor patients with diabetes and help them keep their disease under control,” said Deborah Carson, Pharm.D., associate professor of pharmacy practice, and one of the study coordinators.

Diabetes costs the state of South Carolina about one billion dollars per year in health care. Associated complications like kidney disease, blindness, and increased risk of amputation and stroke, mean more visits to the emergency room and more frequent hospitalizations. South Carolina has about the highest prevalence of diabetes of any state in the nation.

“Many diabetics have only minimal education about their disease. And what education they have had, has not been reinforced enough,” said Allyson Hennecy, R.Ph., Professional Pharmacy. “We frequently see patients who have lost a limb because of complications that could have been lessened or prevented with the proper diabetes education.”

Potential participants for the Partners in Care project were identified by the S.C. Office of Insurance Services. After their primary physician approved participation, patients were given the opportunity to sign up. Two hundred fifty-three men and women throughout the state with diabetes mellitus were matched with local pharmacists who completed an intensive 80-hour education program in diabetes management.

Initial visits began in July. Currently, patients meet individually with their pharmacist each month for a 15 to 30 minute counseling session to evaluate blood pressure, weight and blood glucose levels, answer questions, and review medications, nutrition and exercise. Pharmacists are compensated for each visit by the Division of Insurance Services.

“Through regular contact with patients with diabetes, the pharmacist can not only educate but identify potential problems and get the person in to see the doctor sooner,” Carson said.

During a recent trip to the Professional Pharmacy, Hennecy noticed a bandage on Delaware Gerald’s finger. “A storm window had fallen on it, a few weeks before, and it had become infected,” Gerald said. “After Allyson looked at it, she said I needed to see my doctor and made an appointment for me that afternoon.”

The moral support that the program provides is also an asset. “It helps to know that someone’s checking on me,” Gerald said. “When I was diagnosed, I didn’t know much about diabetes. Through this program, my awareness has improved tremendously.”

Participating physicians in South Carolina are also supportive of the program. “When patients visit the doctor’s office, we’re often dealing with whatever is happening medically at the moment,” said Paul DeMarco, M.D. “Partners in Care provides another resource for patient education and support. It’s a wonderful addition to diabetic care in the state.”

This additional resource for diabetic care should be especially beneficial in rural areas of South Carolina where support systems for diabetic patients are not as prevalent, Carson added. The Partners in Care pilot project will continue until July 2000. Data from the project will be reviewed every six months.

“We hope to show that pharmacists can have a positive effect on patient health when working in conjunction with physicians, certified diabetes educators, nutritionists and others,” Carson said. Carson, along with James J. Sterrett, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice; Joseph Blizzard, R.Ph., Blizzard and Parkman Pharmacy; and Tommy Johnson, R.Ph., CDE, director, Diabetes Center, Anderson Area Medical Center, are coordinating the study.

Partners in Care is funded by the S.C. Pharmacy Association and Parke-Davis. The Diabetes Initiative of South Carolina and University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy also provide support for the program.