4 Ways Pharmacists Will Make A BIG Impact In 2010

Medication therapy management (MTM) is becoming more and more important as many patients continue to participate in increasingly complex and difficult pharmacotherapeutic treatment regimens concurrently that target a variety of disease states. Pharmacists are experts at fine tuning treatment regimens to be effective and safe, sharing their expert advice with other healthcare professionals in order improve treatment outcomes and avoiding unnecessary healthcare cost. After years of observation, this concept has shown itself as quite valuable in the arena of healthcare. A study published by Barnett MJ, Frank J, Wehring H, et al. J Manag Care Pharm. 2009;15:18-31 found that “for every $8.44 reimbursed to community pharmacists for providing MTM, the average estimated cost avoided by the healthcare system was $93.78.” As time goes on pharmacists will be utilized more and more to become involved in MTM services as reimbursement has shown as a good investment in quality and cost efficient healthcare.