Advertisement
Medication use and medication related problems are major problems in the U.S. health care system
Medication-related problems and medication mismanagement are a massive public health problem in the U.S. Experts estimate that 1.5 million preventable adverse events occur each year that result in $177 billion in injury & death.
Pharmacists undergo years of training and experience in managing medication therapies and are the best qualified health care providers to help patients manage and effectively use medications.
Pharmacists improving care through collaboration
The Institute of Medicine advocates that healthcare should be safe, effective, patient centered, timely and efficient in meeting patient’s needs. The Institute of Medicine also encourages patients to actively participate in the health care process to prevent medication related problems. Pharmacist Medication Therapy Management services seek to enhance care to by improving collaboration between pharmacists, physicians and other health care providers; enhancing communication between patients and their health care team; and empowering patients to optimize medication use for improved health care outcomes.
Medication therapy management encompasses a broad list of services and includes medication therapy reviews, complex medication consultations and referrals from specialist physicians, health and wellness services, immunization, disease education, health coaching and many other services that help patients.
Pharmacist-provided medication therapy management is helping to improve patients’ lives
Across the nation, pharmacists are working with patients to optimize medication use, avoid, prevent or resolve medication-related problems and helping them to live happier, healthier and more productive lives.
Learn more about MTM in the pharmacy and what it looks like.
The pharmacist’s role in delivering patient care services continues to evolve, with the body of evidence supporting pharmacists’ impact growing daily. APhA convened a group of scientific experts and charged them with identifying examples of the best evidence of pharmacists’ impact on patient medication–related and other health outcomes. As the evidence expands, this compendium of pharmacist provision‐of‐care publications will grow.
The APhA-APPM Medication Management SIG created the Toolkit for Marketing MTM to Prescribers, which includes 11 resources to help guide pharmacists through the general approach and conversation components that will fuel budding MTM service delivery collaborations between pharmacists and prescribers. The toolkit contains tips for how pharmacists can share the value of MTM services in ways that will be more readily accepted by potential collaborators.