UA pharmacists train 450 others in Medicare patient counseling

June 21, 2007

Tucson, AZ--Five pharmacists from The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy traveled to 16 cities from Anaheim to Newark this spring to teach more than 450 community pharmacists the patient counseling methods known by the federal government as “medication therapy management” (MTM).

The UA pharmacists were from the Medication Management Center, a call center established in the College of Pharmacy in 2006 to provide specialized patient counseling services to Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D prescription drug coverage.

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. Patients typically are people with chronic high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol problems, asthma and other breathing problems.

The educational sessions for pharmacists took place from March through early June and were underwritten by pharmacy corporate sponsors.

“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 workshop sponsor United Drugs, a group of independent pharmacies headquartered in Phoenix.

“Most of the participants had little or no knowledge of Medicare Part D or how to implement medication therapy management services in their business before this, and now they are enthusiastic about it.”

Last year, the UA Medication Management Center contracted with insurers and set up an MTM model that was the basis of the training sessions. 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.

“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 Drugs and other companies funded this series of workshops,” Semingson said. “We want to see more community pharmacists offering this patient service and this way they learn from the best.”

The UA Medication Management Center will offer MTM educational sessions next fall at meetings held by Medicine Shoppe International and Leader Drug Stores.

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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.
• Provided counseling services to more than 4,000 ambulatory-care patients and about 14,000 long-term care patients.
• Center specialists recommend medication interventions for 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).

Medication Management Therapy 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 1,025 independent pharmacies in 16 states headquartered in Phoenix (includes 55 Basha’s pharmacies)

Spring 2007 Workshop Locations
Anaheim, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Kansas City (Mo.), Jacksonville (Fla.), Charlotte (N.C.), Knoxville (Tenn.), Columbus (Ohio), Queens (N.Y), Newark (N.J.)
Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Seattle

For more information, call (520)626-3389