FREE BCACP Population-Based Care Questions and Answers
A pharmacist is working to implement a population health program for patients with Type 2 Diabetes at a clinic. The clinic has identified that 30% of patients have an A1C >9%. What is the BEST first step to address this issue?
Reviewing medication adherence data is the most logical first step in population-based care to identify whether lack of adherence is contributing to poor glycemic control. This allows for targeted interventions before escalating therapy. <br.
A. Group educational sessions: Helpful, but addressing adherence first is more immediate and impactful.
C. Initiate insulin therapy: Not appropriate without assessing adherence and other barriers first.
D. Reminder system: Useful, but it does not directly address the root cause of high A1C levels.
Clinical Tip: In population-based care, focus on identifying barriers such as adherence, access, and social determinants of health.
A pharmacist is reviewing clinic data and finds that 45% of patients with hypertension are not at their blood pressure goal.
Which of the following interventions is MOST appropriate to improve population-level blood pressure control?
A pharmacist-led MTM program is a structured intervention that can optimize antihypertensive therapy, improve adherence, and address barriers to blood pressure control at the population level.
A. Send electronic reminders: Helpful, but this alone will not improve control.
C. Educate patients on home monitoring: This is important but less comprehensive than MTM.
D. Sodium restriction: While beneficial, it is not sufficient as a sole intervention.
Clinical Tip: MTM programs demonstrate the value of pharmacists in improving population-based outcomes.
A population health review shows that many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have frequent exacerbations requiring hospital visits.
What intervention would MOST effectively reduce exacerbation rates?
Annual influenza vaccination is a proven population-based intervention to reduce exacerbations in patients with COPD by preventing respiratory infections.
B. Educate on inhaler technique: Important, but does not directly target the population-level problem of frequent exacerbations.
C. Daily oral corticosteroids: Not appropriate due to long-term side effects and lack of evidence for chronic use in COPD.
D. Pulmonary rehabilitation: Beneficial, but not as impactful as vaccination in preventing exacerbations.
Clinical Tip: Immunizations (influenza, pneumococcal) are high-impact, low-cost interventions for COPD populations.
A pharmacist in a large clinic is evaluating statin therapy usage in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Clinic data shows that only 50% of eligible patients are on high-intensity statins.
What is the NEXT best step?
Clinical decision support (CDS) alerts within the EHR can prompt providers to prescribe or optimize high-intensity statin therapy during patient visits, improving population adherence to guidelines.
B. Call all patients: Time-intensive and impractical for a population-level intervention.
C. Moderate-intensity statins: High-intensity statins are preferred for ASCVD patients.
D. Send letters to prescribers: Less efficient than real-time CDS alerts.
A pharmacist is tasked with reducing hospital readmission rates for patients recently discharged with heart failure. Which of the following interventions is MOST appropriate for improving outcomes across this population?
Post-discharge medication reconciliation and patient education are proven strategies to reduce hospital readmissions by ensuring patients understand their medications and follow their care plans.
B. Diuretics: While important for symptom management, not all patients require them post-discharge.
C. Routine follow-up every 6 months: Follow-up within 7-14 days post-discharge is critical for preventing readmissions.
D. Low-protein diet: Not indicated for heart failure management.
Clinical Tip: Pharmacists play a key role in transitions of care by improving medication safety and adherence.