APhA survey finds growing demand for MTM services

WASHINGTON — The American Pharmacists Association has released the latest edition of a publication for pharmacists who provide medication therapy management services, the professional group said Monday.

The group released the APhA Medication Therapy Management Digest — Pharmacists Emerging as Interdisciplinary Health Care Team Members as the latest survey suggests 70% of MTM providers had patients receiving services. That figure, from 2010-2012, included 49% of providers reporting a moderate or significant increase in provision of services, while 34% of providers expect an additional increase in the number of contract opportunities this year.

The survey found that demand for MTM is growing, and providers and payers alike reported enhancing practices and organizations to accommodate it. Twenty-four percent of respondents reported pharmacist schedules being adjusted to facilitate service delivery, while 23% reported adding full-time pharmacist employees, and 10% reported remodeling facilities. Payers' modifications included enhancing MTM program offerings to beneficiaries for 2012 increasing in-house and contracted provider staff and contracting with an MTM network service provider to administer programs.

One feature of the 2012 survey is that, for the first time, it asked providers about the provision of MTM services within integrated care delivery models such as accountable care organizations and medical homes. Thirty-one percent of respondents said they were providing services in an integrated care delivery mode, while 15% said they were providing them in a medical home model, and 10% said they were providing them in a transition of care model. Thirty-three percent were providing MTM, while 32% were providing patient education, and 27% were providing drug information services.