Mercy Health Clinic, Gaithersburg, Maryland
MHC is a free, not-for-profit, community based primary health care provider serving uninsured, low-income adult residents of Montgomery County, Maryland for over 2,200 patients without primary medical care through its volunteer providers. Of the clinic’s 219 active patients with diabetes (9.8% of clinic population), 63% are Hispanic. The pharmacists provide MTM for patients with diabetes who are referred by the clinic’s physicians, nurses, and/or medical assistants. Referral criteria for MTM included patients who had at least 3 chronic medications or at least 2 chronic medical conditions, one of which included diabetes. At each MTM appointment, the pharmacist conducts a comprehensive medication therapy review (MTR) to identify medication-related problems, develop an action plan, and provide individualized diabetes education.
This service also serves as a rotation site for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences for students from the School and for PGY1 pharmacy residents from the University of Maryland and Suburban Hospital.
For her work at Mercy Health Clinic, Dr. Congdon’s team was awarded the Promising Practice Award from the American Diabetes Association at the 4th Disparities Partnership Forum in April, 2011. Additionally, her collaborative work also earned two awards in January of 2012 from the Health Resources and Services Administration Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative (HRSA PSPC) including the PSPC Life Saving Patient Safety Award and the PSPC Performance Award.