UA pharmacists to train others in patient counseling

April 2, 2007

Tucson, AZ--Five pharmacists from The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy will travel to 17 cities from Anaheim to Newark this spring to teach community pharmacists the nuts, bolts, bells and whistles of patient counseling known by the federal government as “medication therapy management” (MTM).

The pharmacists are from the Medication Management Center, a call center established in the UA College of Pharmacy in 2006 to provide specialized patient counseling services to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D prescription drug coverage. Thanks to the support of pharmacy corporate underwriters (Cardinal Health, Leader® pharmacies; Medicine Shoppe International, Inc., franchisor of Medicine Shoppe® and Medicap Pharmacy® stores; and United Drugs, Inc.), the educational sessions, which began March 28 and continue through May 24, will be free to more than 1,000 working pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

“Pharmacists have the skills and knowledge to improve the results patients get from their medications and to decrease drug costs. They just need to understand how to provide the services that qualify as medication therapy management,” said Bruce Semingson, RPh, chief executive officer of sponsor United Drugs, a group of independent pharmacies headquartered in Phoenix.

“The UA pharmacists have had great success with their program in just a few months, and have already shown real results in getting the right medications to patients and saving them money. That’s why United Drug and other companies are funding this series of workshops. We want to see more community pharmacists offering this patient service and this way they can learn from the best.”

Cardinal Health’s Leader® pharmacies, a network of 3,500 independent pharmacies throughout the United States, is also a workshop sponsor. “This nationwide training will help community pharmacists learn how to be reimbursed for further strengthening services they already enjoy offering patients,” said Glenn Hall, RPh, general manager of Leader Member Services. (more)

Under Medicare legislation that became effective in January 2006, insurance companies providing Part D benefits to Medicare members must provide medication therapy management services to those beneficiaries who take multiple medications and have multiple chronic conditions. Many beneficiaries take 10 or more medications daily.

Last year, the UA Medication Management Center contracted with insurers and set up an MTM model that is the basis of the training sessions now being offered. The medication management specialists:
• Make sure patients understand their medical conditions and the medicine they take to treat them.
• Review medications for possible adverse interactions and unnecessary/duplicate therapies.
• Assist patients with understanding insurance company formularies and recommend possible changes in medications.

“In less than a year, our center has provided medication therapy management services to more than 4,000 ambulatory-care patients and about 14,000 long-term care patients,” says Kevin Boesen, the pharmacist and assistant professor who directs the center. “Our patients are people with chronic high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol problems, asthma and other breathing problems.”

Within months of its opening, the Medication Management Center expanded from working individually by phone with patients to also consulting with a network of 39,000 community pharmacies across the country who were beginning to launch these special services in their local drugstores.

“Medication therapy management is a great benefit for patients,” said Deb Thompson, vice president of managed healthcare for Medicine Shoppe International, Inc. “It also offers a way to generate new revenue, and in today’s business environment, that’s especially important to community pharmacists. We are very excited by the opportunity to bring the experts from the UA Medication Management Center directly to pharmacists in their own cities.”

For information about the medication therapy management training, call (520) 626-2701.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
About The Medication Management Center
at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy
• Only university-based provider of medication therapy management services in the country (launched May 2006).
• One of the few MTM providers using all pharmacists.
• Center specialists recommend medication interventions in about 40 percent of patients; about 80 percent of the recommendations are accepted by the physician and patient.
• Recommendations from center specialists resulted in about $1 million in savings on drugs to Part D patients during 2006 (based on 18,000 patients). (more)

Medication Management Therapy in Community Pharmacy Workshop Sponsors
• Cardinal Health, an $81 billion global company offering a wide variety of healthcare products and services
• The Medicine Shoppe International, Inc., franchisor of Medicine Shoppe® pharmacies and Medicap Pharmacy® stores
• Leader Drug Stores, a national network of 3,500 independently owned and operated community pharmacies
• United Drugs, Inc., a group of independent pharmacies in 16 states

Program Dates and Locations
March 28: Anaheim, Calif. March 29: Los Angeles
April 4: Atlanta April 5: Baton Rouge, La.
April 11: Seattle April 12: Denver
April 18: Dallas April 19: Kansas City, Mo.
April 25: Jacksonville, Fla. April 26: Charlotte, N.C.
May 2: Knoxville, Tenn. May 3: Columbus, Ohio
May 16: Queens, N.Y. May 17: Newark, N.J.
May 22: Indianapolis May 23: Detroit
May 24: Chicago

Workshop Faculty
Rebekah Jackowski, PharmD
Ann Kerschen, PharmD
James Kloster, RPh
Martin Pelger, RPh
Jason Reddick, PharmD

For more information, call (520)626-3389