Objectives: (1) To identify physicians’ preferences in regard to pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (MTM) communication in the community pharmacy setting; (2) to identify physicians’ perceived barriers to communicating with a pharmacist regarding MTM; and (3) to determine whether Missouri physicians feel MTM is beneficial for their patients. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective survey study of 2021 family and general practice physicians registered with MO HealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid program. Results: The majority (52.8%) of physicians preferred MTM data to be communicated via fax. Most physicians who provided care to patients in long-term care (LTC) facilities (81.0%) preferred to be contacted at their practice location as opposed to the LTC facility. The greatest barriers to communication were lack of time and inefficient communication practices. Improved/enhanced communication was the most common suggestion for improvement in the MTM process. Approximately 67% of respondents reported MTM as beneficial or somewhat beneficial for their patients. Conclusions: Survey respondents saw value in the MTM services offered by pharmacists. However, pharmacists should use the identified preferences and barriers to improve their currently utilized communication practices in hopes of increasing acceptance of recommendations. Ultimately, this may assist MTM providers in working collaboratively with patients’ physicians.
No abstract available.
Editor’s note: The Pharmacy Podcast Show serves pharmacy businesses, including independent retail, long-term care, specialty, and small chains. During this interview, Dr. Jeff Kosowsky, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development of American Well, a telehealth company, discusses telehealth-like technologies in the pharmacy industry and health system pharmacies, including consultations and medication therapy management. The entire interview is presented here. Below, Telehealth and Medicine Today has summarized the key points by Dr. Kosowsky during an interview with Todd Eury, Founder & Publisher of Pharmacy Podcast.
Objectives: Describe individualized medication interventions, categorize intervention types, and report acceptance rates by prescribers following a pilot medication intervention program in which a pharmacist rounded with the patient care team in long-term care facilities in addition to their traditional medication regimen review (MRR) process.
Design: Prospective Chart review
Setting: Two primary long-term care (LTC) facilities
Participants: Fifty randomly selected patient charts. Inclusion criteria were adult patients (18 years old or older) residing in one of the LTC facilities receiving consultant pharmacist services. Patient charts not meeting inclusion criteria were excluded from the review.
Interventions: Recommendations made according to the needs of each patient and categorically reported.
Main Outcome Measures: Intervention acceptance rates by prescribers and aggregate reporting for type of medication interventions.
Results: For 50 patient charts (68% female, 32% male) 66 interventions were reported. The average patient age was 81.5 years. Approximately 45% of the interventions pertained to drug utilization concerns, and 21% involved pain management. Additional categories included treatment of eye and skin conditions and pharmacotherapy for mental health. A 'nonpharmacotherapy' designation was given to individual interventions not fitting into a larger category. New medications and regimen changes were the most common medication therapy outcomes (42% and 32%, respectively). Overall 92% of all pharmacist interventions were either fully or partially accepted by the prescriber where partial acceptance was defined as implementation of the recommendation with an adjustment. Interventions related to drug utilization or pain management each approached a 93% acceptance rate.
Conclusions: The consultant pharmacist provided personalized recommendations following extensive chart review and patient assessment. Our chart review suggests that high prescriber acceptance rates along with medication therapy optimization may produce similar benefits in other LTC facilities.
Type: Original Research
Medication Therapy Management Services for Long-term Care Patients: No Road Maps for Those Trying to Find Their Way
