Pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (part 2): Payer perspectives in 2007

Objectives: To collect and describe payer perspectives regarding (1) implementation strategies used for providing medication therapy management (MTM) services to patients/clients; (2) specific measures, if any, used to quantify the costs and benefits of MTM; (3) how the value of MTM services was tracked during 2007; and (4) barriers to offering MTM services to patients/clients. Design: Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study. Setting: United States during 2007. Participants: Of the 1,898 payers who presumably received an e-mail invitation to participate in the survey, 132 (7%) responded. In addition to the online survey, 20 individuals who reported that they developed or used MTM for their organization participated in a telephone interview consisting of open-ended questions. Interventions: Self-administered online survey and telephone interview. Main outcome measures: Implementation and monitoring of MTM. Results: The results showed that 20% (n = 26) of the e-mail survey respondents offered MTM services to their members as described in the consensus definition of MTM. Payers for MTM services varied widely on how they implemented and monitored their organization's MTM programs. For 2008, MTM payer organizations plan to expand their use of face-to-face pharmacist-patient interaction. Conclusion: During 2008, plans may have greater opportunity to measure outcomes in a longitudinal fashion and make adjustments to MTM provision strategies. Some evidence for this was suggested in respondent comments to our survey, but future validation is needed before reaching a firm conclusion.