The Impact of an Integrated GLP-1 Program on Cardiovascular Care
In this video, Jayne Parry, a student at the University of Michigan and clinical research intern at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation discusses a recent study that examined outcomes from a novel GLP-1 program that leveraged a multidisciplinary approach.
Additional Resource:
- Parry J, Benson G, Pollmann D, et al. Impact of a cardiology/pharmacy integrated GLP-1 medication program to improve cardiovascular health. Paper presented at: American College of Cardiology's 74th Annual Scientific Session & Expo; March 29-31, 2025; Chicago, IL. https://accscientificsession.acc.org/
TRANSCRIPTION:
Jayne Parry: Hello, my name is Jayne Parry. I'm a senior at the University of Michigan, and this past summer, I had the opportunity to work with my physician mentor, Dr. Minema at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation on a project looking at retrospective chart data from a novel multi-disciplinary GLP-1 program created by the Minneapolis Heart Institute.
Consultant360: What are the key themes of your presentation?
Parry: Some key themes of the presentation is that this was a novel multidisciplinary program for GLP-1 medication usage created by the Minneapolis Heart Institute. This program was unique because it involved both work with cardiologists and pharmacists. Cardiologists prescribed the medication first and referred patients to this program, but then a pharmacist actually performed the initial visit with the patient to assist with any barriers for access, such as insurance coverage and costs, as well as starting the patient on the appropriate GLP-1 medication. And then the pharmacist followed up with the patients every two weeks about side effects and dose titrations, so this cardiology and pharmacy integrated program was created to help patients improve access and successful utilization of these medications.
Some other takeaways from our presentation is that the study assessed real -world outcomes of GLP-1 therapy and saw reductions in several cardiovascular risk factors in patients taking the medications in their own home on their own as opposed to being part of a randomly controlled trial.
And then lastly, another important piece of this study was that it enrolled patients both with type 2 diabetes and without type 2 diabetes and saw reductions in cardiovascular risk factors among both groups who continued the medication.
Some last main results that we found was that the program was ultimately successful in initiating patients on GLP-1 therapy. We found that 67% of patients who were referred to the program initiated GLP-1 therapy. It also had successful rates with tolerability of the medication, in which 84% of patients who had at least one month of follow-up decided to continue on GLP-1 therapy. And so the program ultimately showed high rates of GLP-1 initiation and tolerability in real-world patients. We also saw real-world outcomes of reductions in cardiovascular risk.
C360: Why is this topic particularly relevant right now?
Parry: GLP-1 receptor agonist medications have been around for several years, and they've been actually approved by the FDA since 2005 for management in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, this topic became more relevant in the past year or two because a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2023 that found that these GLP-1 receptor agonist medications could promote weight loss and reduce cardiovascular risk in patients without type 2 diabetes. That's one reason as to why this topic is particularly relevant right now because these medications can have the potential to reduce cardiovascular risk factors and promote weight loss in patients also without diabetes.
C360: Was there anything unique about the study design?
Parry: The way that the program was set up in terms of administering the GLP-1 medication is unique because it utilized a multi-disciplinary program. Cardiologists did not have the full responsibility of following up with this patient and managing their medication because that was mostly the pharmacist's job. It gave patients more access to someone to help them with their starting dose, titrating the dose, managing any symptoms, and hopefully minimizing symptoms. This kind of continual communication with the pharmacist really helped or made this different than other GLP-1 medication prescriptions that would just be typically prescribed by a provider because they've had this continual follow-up from a pharmacist to help with any issues with access to the medication, changes in insurance coverage, and ultimately tolerability of the medication.
C360: Are there any areas for future research on this topic?
Parry: The program is still currently ongoing, so I had only looked at the chart study and the research that I'm presenting, which looked at patients enrolled in the program from June of 2023 to March of 2024, so since the program is still ongoing, future research areas are focused on looking at more long-term outcomes of medication continuation, including weight loss and cardiovascular risk factors.
And then one question that kind of remains undetermined is details regarding this long-term medication continuation. We want to still know and we're still trying to figure out how to best manage the patients who have now taken these GLP-1 medications after they have had successful weight loss. How do they continue on this medication? So that's one area that is still unknown and that we're still looking into.