Outcome Benefits Seen With 1 Year of Optimized Sacubitril/Valsartan for the Treatment of Systolic Heart Failure Managed by Pharmacists in a Cardiology Practice

Background: Pharmacists’ care in heart failure (HF) management has been shown to better clinical outcomes, including use of guideline-directed medical therapy and hospital readmission, although the impact observed has varied among studies. Objective: To investigate the rates of all-cause hospitalization and hospitalization from HF (hHF) and changes in surrogate markers (left-ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association Functional Classification [NYHA FC], diuretic requirements) for patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) on angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNi) therapy optimized within a pharmacist clinic. Methods: Retrospective chart review of patients with HFrEF on sacubitril/valsartan from July 7, 2015, through January 1, 2018. Results: For the primary outcome analysis, 70 patients with pre/post hospitalization data had a reduction in the rate of all-cause hospitalization from 45.7% in the 12 months prior to ARNi therapy initiation to 24.3% during the first year on optimized ARNi therapy ( P = 0.004). The rate of hHF reduced from 24.3% to 8.6% ( P = 0.003). For the secondary outcome analyses at the 6-month assessment point, which included 104 patients, ejection fraction improved from 26% to 34% ( P < 0.001), NYHA FC improved or remained unchanged in 86.6% of patients, and weekly loop diuretic dosing requirements were significantly reduced. Conclusion and Relevance: Real-world use of sacubitril/valsartan optimized within a pharmacist clinic was associated with reduced prevalence of all-cause and hHF during the first year of ARNi therapy. This study corroborates pharmacist involvement in HF management, which could be used to support further research and expanded pharmacist services.