Empowering pharmacists with pocket-sized devices: A new frontier in Afib detection

Most people who have atrial fibrillation (Afib) – a potentially serious illness associated with an abnormal heartbeat – have no idea they are living with the condition. Early interventions are few and far between because there is widespread lack of awareness of the need to get tested.

Ben Bluml, the executive director and senior vice president for Research and Innovation with the American Pharmacists Association Foundation, said that they were determined to address this issue with two goals in mind: find a way to provide pharmacists with innovative tools to detect Afib early, and provide patients with a device small enough to fit in their pockets.

That concept sparked Solutions for Atrial Fibrillation Edvocacy (SAFE), a program designed by Bluml and his colleagues in 2021 with the support of a Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation) grant. The program leverages KardiaMobile 6L devices, which provide a crucial heartbeat rhythm reading after a patient holds the device with their index fingers and thumbs for just 30 seconds. Used in conjunction with the Stroke Risk Scorecard, which helps to determine a patient's scale on various risk categories, this initiative provided an additional access point for Afib screening at 14 community pharmacies in nine different states across the country. If abnormalities are detected, pharmacists can immediately refer patients to physicians for any needed follow up.

"[This pharmacist patient care program] gives you a point of opportunity for intervention with the patient as it relates to things that they can do to actually modify or reduce their risk,” said Bluml.

The program has been a resounding success. In populations where the SAFE study occurred, Afib was diagnosed at two times the rate it would be expected to occur in a normally distributed population – a testament to the critical need that SAFE is serving.

Now, Bluml and his team are working to take the program to new heights. Their new initiative, Project IMPACT (Improving America’s Communities Together) Cardiovascular Health Plus, is working to implement the SAFE model in a total of 20 states across the country. The growth of these programs will enable even more patients to access the cardiovascular care they need and pave the way toward stronger and healthier communities.