Your Stories: Saint Francis Pharmacist Presents Research at the American College of Cardiology

Jillian Searle's research poster placed first for pharmacy presenters as the American College of Cardiology Annual Conference.

Saint Francis pharmacist Jillian Searle and Youssef Bessada, Jillian’s project mentor and University of Connecticut faculty, submitted research to the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for the organization’s annual conference, ACC.24, which took place in Atlanta at the beginning of April. Their research poster placed first for pharmacy presenters and third overall. Jillian and Youssef also delivered a presentation on their initiative, a pharmacist-led lipid optimization workflow in the transitions of care setting (LOW-TOC).

This initiative pertains to cardiovascular medication optimization with both inpatient and outpatient pharmacy teams. Specifically, Jillian and Youssef aimed to optimize the lipid management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) patients in the transitions of care setting. They identified patients with a history of ASCVD who were eligible for lipid management optimization and recommended therapy escalation while inpatient or initiation/continuation at discharge.

The pair worked closely with cardiologists, hospitalists, and APPs on this initiative. They found that having a dedicated LOW-TOC pharmacist on this initiative one day a week was associated with a significantly greater proportion of patients with lipid therapy optimized (~94 percent) compared to the standard process of passive optimization (~6 percent).

Submitted by Tera Falcetti, Pharmacy Director, Saint Francis.

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