Chase Reece, BSHP '24

This week I began diving into the literature regarding collaborative drug therapy modification. I primarily focused on looking into recent research regarding CDTM in Georgia specifically, before expanding out into the wider body of literature. Many areas of rural Georgia have insufficient access to primary care services, including preventative medicine, annual wellness visits, and chronic disease management. However, many of these communities have pharmacists who could potentially help increase access to care and improve patient outcomes by taking on more of a clinical role by entering into a collaborative relationship with a physician through CDTM. Reading through some of the literature this week revealed that there are both significant facilitators and barriers to CDTM implementation that need to be addressed. Common facilitators identified include support from local physicians and personal attributes and attitudes of pharmacists. Barriers identified included regulations and lack of autonomy for pharmacists due to their lack of association with clinical roles. Because these findings are specific to Georgia, the information provides potential avenues that need to be addressed when increasing awareness, recognition, and adoption of CDTM within the state. Additionally, as we continue to look further into the background literature it will be interesting to see if similar attitudes and perceptions exist throughout the country or if there are any geographic variations. The health promotion competencies met this week include:

• 1.1.3: Identify existing and available resources, policies, programs, practices, and interventions.
• 1.2.3: Conduct a literature review.
• 1.2.4: Procure secondary data.
• 1.2.5: Determine the validity and reliability of the secondary data.