Although there remains a significant amount to learn to guide researchers' mission of improving the availability and effectiveness of treatment for individuals with depression, this study demonstrates that an empirically supported treatment can be implemented in a community mental health center and may result in improved outcomes.

This study evaluated the perceptions of clinical pharmacist integration into the PACT model. Respondents perceived clinical pharmacist beneficial.

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Introduction The Veterans Affairs (VA) has been at the forefront of harnessing the skills of clinical pharmacy specialists (CPS) in patient‐aligned care teams (PACT) to improve patient care outcomes and create access for veterans. With the unfortunate arrival of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19), PACT CPS were duty‐bound to expand telehealth services at an accelerated rate. The purpose of this quality improvement analysis is to compare CPS efficiency as well as some objective patient metrics to assess for a change in the quality of care. This is the first study to compare the efficiency and quality of care by CPS in the VA pre‐COVID19 and during the COVID19 pandemic. Methods This is a retrospective review of PACT CPS comprehensive medication management from 3/10/19 to 11/30/19 and 3/10/20 to 11/30/20. Data points focused on clinic encounters, patient accountability to appointments, disease state expansion, and markers of disease‐state management. Given diabetes and hypertension are the main disease states managed by most PACT CPS', the study evaluated changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and blood pressure (BP) between the two cohorts as well. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Software or Microsoft Excel. A student T‐test was used for continuous data and Chi‐squared or Fishers Exact for nominal data. Results The total number of PACT CPS encounters increased 32% in 2020, and the number of unique patients increased by 12%. There were a statistically significant increase in telephone and direct‐to‐consumer (DCT) video visits. The rates of no shows and cancellations significantly decreased between 2019 and 2020. There was no difference in the average change in HbA1c or average blood pressure between the two study groups. Conclusions When PACT CPS services transitioned from primarily face‐to‐face visits to all virtual care, the consistency of care improved, and the quality of care was not compromised.

Patients followed in a resident run pharmacotherapy clinic in the PCMH model with interventions over six months showed significant improvements in clinical endpoints including A1c, LDL, SBP, and DBP.