Implementation of a medication therapy management program in a primary care clinic

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Primary Care
• Medication Therapy Management

Background:

• Community pharmacists offer Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services.
• Clinic-embedded pharmacists can overcome barriers faced by community pharmacists, potentially enhancing MTM program success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a clinic-embedded pharmacist-led MTM program on patient identification for pharmacy services.
• To characterize intervention types, targeted drugs and diseases, and barriers within the MTM program.

Main Methods:

• A 4-week pilot program was conducted in a primary care clinic.
• Clinic-embedded pharmacists dedicated 4 hours per week to MTM services.
• Data collected included patient identification, intervention types, success rates, and barriers.

Main Results:

• The MTM program identified 34 unique patients, 67.7% of whom had no prior clinical pharmacy contact.
• Targeted interventions (n=42) were more frequently attempted and successful (88%) than comprehensive reviews (n=4, 25% success).
• Barriers included patient refusal, lack of contact, and intervention inapplicability.

Conclusions:

• Implementing an MTM program required interdepartmental coordination but effectively expanded pharmacy services.
• The program successfully identified patients not previously referred for chronic disease management by the clinical pharmacy team.