Joseph Saseen, PharmD, explains how population health strategies and team-based care create new opportunities for pharmacists to identify lipid treatment gaps and lead evidence-based ASCVD prevention.
In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Joseph Saseen, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, CLS, professor and associate dean for clinical affairs in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Colorado Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, discussed the growing importance of population health strategies and team-based care in preventing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), particularly across diverse and high-risk patient populations.
Saseen highlighted that although low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is not currently recognized as a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measure, renewed interest in reestablishing LDL-C targets reflects their central role in improving cardiovascular outcomes. In the meantime, population health initiatives can still leverage existing statin-based quality measures to identify care gaps and systematically reach patients who are not receiving evidence-based lipid-lowering therapy.
Saseen emphasized that pharmacists are well positioned to be embedded within integrated care teams, where they can help close treatment gaps by identifying eligible patients, optimizing medication regimens, and supporting longitudinal monitoring. He noted that pharmacists have demonstrated success in helping patients reach therapeutic goals—not only in diabetes and hypertension but also in dyslipidemia—through medication management and lifestyle counseling. Beyond pharmacotherapy, pharmacists play a critical role in reinforcing heart-healthy behaviors, including diet and physical activity, as part of comprehensive cardiovascular risk reduction.
Looking ahead, Saseen described the dyslipidemia landscape as entering a period of rapid innovation, marked by new lipid-lowering therapies, evolving evidence, and forthcoming guideline updates from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. Emerging treatments, including next-generation proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors, oral LDL-lowering agents, and therapies targeting lipoprotein(a), are expected to expand options for patients who remain at high residual risk despite optimal LDL-C lowering. Saseen underscored that this evolving environment further elevates the need for pharmacists to stay current with evidence-based advancements and to actively participate in population health efforts that improve quality of care and cardiovascular outcomes.
