The value of pharmacist involvement in a point-of-care service, walk-in lipid screening program

The leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease. Because a n elevated serum cholesterol level is an independent risk factor for develo pment of coronary heart disease (CHD), individuals older than 20 years of a ge are advised to have their cholesterol level checked every 5 years. Walk- in screening programs are becoming popular as a method of health care deliv ery. The program at the University of California-Irvine Medical Center admi nisters point-of-care, low-cost lipid profile testing, directly involves pa tients in their own care, and provides individualized education to patients regarding cardiovascular risk reduction. A total of 301 patients participa ted in the program between August 1998 and September 2000. Fifty percent of them (150 patients) required intervention; 34% of these (52 patients) were previously undiagnosed. Their mean age was 57 +/- 13 years; 35% were women , 53% had two or more cardiac risk factors, and 5% had CHD. Based on the Na tional Cholesterol Education Program guidelines, 29% had low-density lipopr otein levels above target, 23% had triglyceride levels higher than recommen ded, and 21% had high-density lipoprotein levels below target. It is our ho pe that our successful experience with the program will encourage pharmacis ts to develop similar programs.