Heart Month shines a spotlight on cardiovascular care, but pharmacy teams know heart therapy is a daily consistency story. Patients taking medications for hypertension, heart failure, and other cardiovascular conditions benefit most when therapy is taken continuously and as prescribed. The CDC notes that medication non-adherence is associated with uncontrolled blood pressure and increased hospital admissions.
Pharmacists are positioned to make meaningful impact through structured, repeatable adherence support. Evidence reviews show pharmacy-based interventions can improve adherence and clinical outcomes in cardiovascular disease populations.
The Community Preventive Services Task Force specifically recommends tailored pharmacy-based interventions that identify patient barriers and match support tools to those barriers. “Services include… pillboxes, medication cards and calendars, medication refill synchronization, enhanced follow-up.”
Practical Moves Pharmacies Can Implement
- Use quick barrier assessments during refill or pickup
Tailored interventions begin with identifying why a patient may struggle with adherence. - Match one intervention to one barrier
Evidence supports targeted guidance and services based on individual patient needs. - Offer short counseling or motivational interviewing when appropriate
These are included in recommended pharmacy-based adherence interventions. - Normalize adherence tools
Pillboxes, medication cards, and calendars are documented components of adherence programs. - Offer medication synchronization for chronic patients
Synchronization is specifically cited as an adherence support service. - Build simple follow-up workflows
Follow-up contact is part of recommended adherence intervention models.
Why This Matters Operationally
Tailored pharmacy interventions have been shown to increase the number of patients taking medications as prescribed.
How Masters Supports Consistent Chronic Therapy Access
Chronic therapy depends on patients being able to refill without interruption. Masters supports pharmacies with reliable secondary access to high-utilization medications, flexible ordering through MastersRx.com, EDI, and third-party procurement platforms, and an additional 1% savings when orders are placed online through MastersRx.com. When primary supply tightens or staff time is limited, having a dependable secondary option helps keep refill workflows moving.
