Strengths:
- The pharmacist is a CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator) and BC-ADM (Board Certified-Advanced Diabetes Management)
- The pharmacist is highly knowledgeable regarding insulin pumps, concentrated insulin, diabetes management with comorbid conditions, etc.
- The pharmacist is trained in all different patient insulin pump devices and continuous blood glucose monitoring devices
- Face-to-face interaction for a full hour generates meaningful relationships between the pharmacist and patients
- The endocrinology clinic is already established, and there is no need for hiring additional support staff
- A desire for this service has been vocalized by this endocrinology clinic, thus provider buy-in exists
- Majority of initial start-up costs and operating expenses are already covered by the existing endocrinology clinic
- Clinic predicted to break even within the first two months of operation
- Participants in pilot clinic are already established patients at the endocrinology clinic; this eliminates any outside competition threat
Weaknesses:
- Availability of only one part-time pharmacist may limit flexibility in scheduling new patients
- Pharmacist salary poses biggest financial burden of this clinic
- Patients must be highly motivated to attain goals
- The pharmacist must establish a reputation with endocrinologists in order to create and implement the CDTM addendum for this service, plus work to collect referrals from said physicians
- Ease of access: the clinic’s location is not easily reached by public transportation
Opportunities:
- Extensive patient population utilizing continuous blood glucose monitoring provides increase in reimbursement opportunities and direct revenue
- Primary care providers refer their complex diabetic patients to this endocrinology clinic, thus the need for this intensive insulin clinic is valid as patients are placed on complex insulin therapy
- Existing patients can use this clinic to take charge of their diabetes management, and improve their quality of health
- There is existing provider buy in and room for expansion to other endocrine clinics within Community Health Network
Threats:
- Reimbursement is significantly limited due to pharmacists’ lack of provider status
- Patient no-show rates can impact the effectiveness of the clinic both financially and per patient outcomes