ADA 2025: Bridging Gaps in Diabetes Management and Patient Care

In an interview with Pharmacy Times®, Robert Nichols, PharmD, BCPS, director of clinical operations and residency site preceptor at Greenwood Pharmacy and Compounding Center in Waterloo, Iowa, discusses the critical role of pharmacists in diabetes management and chronic disease care, sharing insights from the American Diabetes Association 85th Scientific Sessions. He emphasizes the importance of staying updated on medical advancements through state pharmacy associations, digital health platforms, and engaging with students and residents. Nichols highlights the significance of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) access and emerging medication therapies like combination glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). He also stresses the need to address social determinants of health, particularly in communities with low income and health literacy challenges.

Pharmacy Times: Can you introduce yourself?

Robert Nichols, PharmD, BCPS: My name is Rob Nichols, and I'm the director of clinical operations at Greenwood Pharmacy and Compounding Center in Waterloo, Iowa. I’m passionate about helping pharmacists be more involved in chronic disease management and increasing CGM access.

Pharmacy Times: In your role, how do you balance the demands of clinical operations with the need to stay updated on the latest advancements and guidelines?

Nichols: Lots of help with keeping our workflow flowing, but we do encourage participation in our state pharmacy associations. One for the CE opportunities, but then also to be able to interact with other pharmacists. We use digital health platforms to stay up to date and get those email updates. We encourage people to participate in things like Pharmacy Times and look at the Pharmacy Times education that is put out. Then we're also passionate about precepting students as well as students and residents, because we're one of the community’s pharmacy-based residency sites for the University of Iowa, and when we're constantly getting that new flow of innovation and information, it's good to let our students train us with the new things that are going on.

Pharmacy Times: What aspects of the ADA 2025 Scientific Sessions do you think will be most relevant to patients managing diabetes in a community pharmacy setting?

Nichols: I think anything related to CGM access is going to be important and really help pharmacists. Anything that talks about helping pharmacists be better about interacting with the CGM trends and helping educate patients about that. There are some things around new medication therapy, especially the combo medications with GLP-1s. We're seeing that more and more in our patients’ therapies, especially with newer providers. I am really interested to see what information is put out about these combination GLP-1s, or drugs being combined with GLP-1s. Then anything that helps us engage more with social determinants of health. I live in an area that has a lot of low-income health needs and some low health literacy challenges. If there's anything that helps us as practitioners be able to close those gaps and better provide good care for our patients, I think that's going to be impactful for our patient population.