Innovative pharmacist-led hypertension management in urgent care: Bridging the gaps in cardiovascular disease

Background: Hypertension control remains suboptimal, contributing to preventable cardiovascular disease events, particularly among patients with limited access to primary care. While pharmacist-led care has demonstrated benefit in primary care settings, its impact in urgent care is not well-studied. This study aimed to evaluate patient-centred outcomes of pharmacist-led interventions for hypertension management in urgent care. Methods: A pilot project was designed to integrate a pharmacist into a team-based care model to evaluate and intervene on hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors among patients presenting to urgent care without a primary care provider and with hypertension (blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg). The project was performed at the Metrotown Urgent and Primary Care Centre in British Columbia. A retrospective chart review was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of this project. Results: A total of 62 patients were included (mean age 56 years; 56.5% male). Mean (standard deviation [SD]) baseline systolic/diastolic blood pressure was 178.4 (SD 21.7)/101.2 (SD 14.7) mmHg and decreased to 124.1 (SD 12.0)/77.4 (SD 9.9) mmHg following pharmacist-led care, representing a mean reduction (SD) of 54.3 (SD 19.7)/23.8 (SD 15.0) mmHg. Overall, 82% of patients were discharged from the program after achieving Hypertension Canada guideline-recommended blood pressure targets. Conclusion: In an urgent care setting, pharmacist-led interventions achieved substantial reductions in blood pressure and high rates of guideline-recommended control, supporting this model as a strategy to address gaps in hypertension care for patients without primary care access.