Pharmacists' experiences with a telephonic medication therapy management program for home health care patients

This study was designed to better understand perceived barriers and facilitators to providing medication therapy management (MTM) services by pharmacists who recently provided telephonic MTM services to home health care patients. These services were provided as part of a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) to develop suggested quality improvement strategies for future service design.

This was a qualitative study. A semi-structured individual interview format was used to elicit responses.

Interviews were conducted by phone with participants.

All pharmacists who recently provided telephonic MTM services as a part of an RCT participated in this study.

Pharmacists were asked questions regarding their perceptions of the services, training opportunities, patient perceptions of the services, interactions with physicians, and suggestions for improvement. General demographic information was collected for each pharmacist and summarized using descriptive statistics. Interview data were analyzed using inductive qualitative methods to reveal key themes related to facilitators and barriers of MTM services in home health care patients.

The main outcome measures were major themes identified from pharmacist interviews pertaining to barriers, facilitators, and quality improvement strategies for telephonic MTM delivery.

A total of four pharmacists (i.e., 100% of those who participated in the prior RCT) were interviewed. Several themes emerged from the analysis, including: communication and relationships, coordinating care and patient self-management, logistics, professional fulfillment, service delivery and content, and training opportunities.

This study provides possible strategies to overcome barriers and facilitate service provision for future telephonic MTM services.