The Future of CAD/PAD Management

Paul Dobesh, PharmD, and James Groce III, PharmD, provide some final thoughts on the future of CAD/PAD management.

Paul Dobesh, PharmD: Before we conclude, Jay, any final thoughts that you’d like to add?

James Groce III, PharmD: Well, again, I think this is our role. Certainly, as I look at my career in pharmacy, if I am ever asked “What did you do in pharmacy?” and “What was your role?” I hope it could be more than 1 thing, but I clearly hope that this can be 1 of those things, and it really involves each of us, again, being that person who is willing to pull the trigger, if you will, and to be a part of change for this patient population. For so long we’ve accepted as status quo the role simply of an antiplatelet agent, and now I think with these results that have emerged with respect to both efficacy and safety, we should really give thought to being a part of the role of seeing that these patients now are afforded not only antiplatelet protection but an antithrombotic agent combined with aspirin, as well. So I think that’s the role that we can certainly play as pharmacists.

Again, I know some of us might be reticent to make such an emboldened recommendation to our colleagues. I think certainly over the long course of both of our careers, Paul, we’ve seen the role of pharmacists and pharmacy change, to where today it’s really that our providers, our physicians, our advanced practice providers really do look to us as someone who is knowledgeable in drug therapy. So I encourage, if not challenge, my other pharmacy colleagues to be a part of change in not only making certain that order sets are created within the health care system, making certain that there are smooth transitions of care, but also maybe picking up a phone and speaking with someone and indicating, “Yes, I want this particular DOAC [direct oral anticoagulant] for this particular indication for my patient,” to make certain that the person receiving the prescription is aware and understanding of the new evidence and the new data and the new FDA-approved indication. For me, that means being vigilant in all the things that we are doing, but certainly looking for these patients to make certain that it’s a part of their therapeutic armamentarium of treating their CAD [coronary artery disease] and PAD [peripheral artery disease] and then making certain again that we’re using the appropriate agent for the appropriate patient, at the appropriate dose and at the appropriate dosing interval.

Paul Dobesh, PharmD: That’s excellent, Jay, and I want to just thank you very much for all your insightful information that you provided here today. It’s always a pleasure to get to work with you. I’d also like to thank our viewing audience for taking the time to participate in this discussion and listen to some of the things that we’ve had to share, and, hopefully, you have found this Pharmacy Times^® Insights discussion to be both rich and informative and something you can take forward to help with your patients and interacting with other health care professionals. With that, I want to thank everybody very much and wish you a good day.