A 49-year-old man presented to his primary care physician’s office for routine follow-up, addressing conditions of difficult-to-control hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and ischemic heart disease. The patient’s medications included lisinopril (40 mg/day), amlodipine (10 mg/day), HCTZ (25 mg/day), and simvastatin (20 mg/day). One year earlier, following diagnosis of coronary artery disease, he was treated with a drug-eluting stent. Additional post-procedure medications were clopidogrel (75 mg/day) and aspirin (162 mg/day).

In the course of their conversation, the physician remarked that she had many other patients with similar health conditions and medications. The patient, who was a high school math teacher, responded, “Well, maybe we should all come to visit with you at once. I bet lots of your other patients have the same questions that I do about the drugs I’m taking and what I should do about my diet. Do doctors hold group appointments?

“Roles of Pharmacists in Shared Medical Appointments?