A panel of diabetes care specialists convened with Pharmacy Times to discuss how interdisciplinary teams divide responsibility for medication management, technology education, and long-term follow-up for people with diabetes. The discussion was comoderated by Jennifer D. Goldman, PharmD, RPh, CDCES, BC-ADM, FCCP, a professor of pharmacy at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, and Katelyn O’Brien, PharmD, BCPS, CDCES, BC-ADM, a clinical pharmacy specialist in adult endocrinology at Boston Medical Center.
Key Takeaways
- Diabetes management requires coordinated expertise across pharmacy, nursing, nutrition, and behavioral health because the condition spans cardiometabolic, renal, and psychosocial domains that no single clinician can address.
- Pharmacists operating under collaborative practice agreements can titrate insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, manage prior authorizations, and bridge postdischarge gaps—work that panelists linked to reduced hospital admissions and improved time in range.
- The Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist credential functions as the connective tissue of the diabetes care team, signaling advanced expertise to patients while equipping clinicians to educate colleagues on technology, transitions of care, and evolving therapeutic options.
Panelists opened by framing diabetes as a condition that extends well beyond glucose. Diana Isaacs, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, BC-ADM, CDCES, an endocrine clinical pharmacist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, noted that cardiovascular, renal, nutritional, and psychosocial components each require distinct expertise, making a team structure necessary rather than optional. Natalie Bellini, DNP, BC-ADM, CDCES, program director of diabetes technology at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, described how her health system’s pharmacy-led discharge program cares for patients with diabetes until their next endocrinology or primary care visit, an approach she said has reduced hospital admissions.
All 5 participants hold the CDCES (Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist) credential, and the panel examined what that certification signals to both colleagues and patients. Kristine Batty, PhD, APRN, BC-ADM, CDCES, FADCES, a diabetes nurse practitioner at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore, emphasized that CDCES-credentialed clinicians educate other providers as well as patients, particularly during the 30-day postdischarge window when patients are most vulnerable.
On diabetes technology, Isaacs contended that the diabetes care and education specialist is positioned to serve as the technology champion, keeping pace with evolving pumps and algorithms and optimizing device settings and alerts. O’Brien described technology access at a safety-net hospital, where in-house pump training and multilingual education support high uptake of continuous glucose monitoring and automated insulin delivery, although gaps persist for patients whose primary language is not English.
The panel closed on a shared conclusion: The future of diabetes care depends not on one profession expanding its scope but on every discipline contributing within a coordinated team.
Pharmacy Times would like to thank ADCES and the panelists for their participation.
