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MemberHealth Announces Findings of 2006 Medication Therapy Management Program


Aug 20 2007, 11:53 AM EST

News source: Business Wire

Through its Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services program in 2006, MemberHealth Inc., sponsor of the CCRx Medicare Part D plans, resolved medication-related issues and improved safety for thousands of its Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

The MTM program was delivered to beneficiaries by their community-based pharmacists using new clinical technology from Mirixa Corporation, a leading provider of clinical health information technologies for pharmacy that is owned by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). Analyses of program data captured at the pharmacy using Mirixa's technology showed that pharmacists resolved thousands of alerts indicating potential safety issues and worked actively with patients and their physicians to resolve medication-related issues.

Medication Therapy Management, or MTM, describes a set of personalized services provided to individual patients to improve care, enhance communication and collaboration among patients and providers, and optimize medication use for improved patient outcomes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires all Medicare Part D plans offer MTM services to beneficiaries meeting certain criteria.

MemberHealth is one of the first Part D plan sponsors that chose pharmacist-delivered MTM services as its preferred approach, with an emphasis on improving quality and safety of medication use. By providing MTM in person, pharmacists can assess the patient's prescription medication regimen and screen for additional issues related to over-the-counter medications. MemberHealth's MTM program also included a comprehensive pharmacist safety check of patients' medication regimens. MemberHealth reimbursed pharmacists for patient care services delivered as part of its Medication Therapy Management program.

"Our MTM program gives pharmacists a unique and important opportunity to improve quality and enhance patient safety by further examining potential medication safety related issues," said Charles E. Hallberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of MemberHealth. "The 2006 program was a great start, and we are building on this experience to further improve medication-related care. We were pleased with the impact pharmacists had in our 2006 MTM program and look forward to continuing to partner with pharmacy to provide the best service to our members."

The MemberHealth MTM program used Internet-based clinical information technology from Mirixa to help pharmacists deliver MTM services to more than 30,000 qualifying patients in retail settings in the last half of 2006. This secure software, called MirixaPro(TM), delivers qualified cases to the pharmacist, along with online workflow, documentation, and billing tools. The software triggers potential safety alerts based on the patient's full medication list, combined with the pharmacist's review of patient over-the-counter medications, conditions and allergies, resulting in a high-quality session between pharmacists and beneficiaries, including coordination with the beneficiary's physicians.

Within MemberHealth's Part D plans, more than 70 percent of MTM recipients' comprehensive medication lists triggered a potential safety alert, generating an average of two potential safety alerts per beneficiary. In response, pharmacists provided patient education related to safety issues to 37 percent of the beneficiaries. Importantly, the beneficiary's physician, in consult with the pharmacist, either cancelled or changed a prescription for nearly 5 percent of beneficiaries with alerts, with the most common reason for change in drug regimen being the presence of a duplicative therapy. Consistent with a safety system in which screening occurs at time of dispensing, for 29 percent of the alerts, the pharmacist reported that the alert was not an issue for the prescriber. For 23 percent of the alerts, the pharmacist indicated that the alert was not an issue as determined by the pharmacist.

"Not every situation that triggers an alert is truly problematic for each beneficiary," noted Hallberg. "Working with community pharmacists who know their patients and the local prescribers enables MemberHealth's MTM program to identify which patients are really most at risk."

Sam Rajan, Vice President of Clinical Operations at MemberHealth, said the 2006 MTM program experience further validates the important role that pharmacists play in medication-related care. "Prescription drug plans should utilize community pharmacy to help improve quality. Both the industry, and our valued customers, are well served by supporting the use of new pharmacy-based clinical technologies to achieve better medication outcomes," Rajan said.

 

About MemberHealth

About MemberHealth: MemberHealth, Inc. (MHRx) is a leading national Medicare Part D sponsor, offering Medicare prescription drug plans in 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. MemberHealth has more than 63,000 pharmacies in its pharmacy network. MHRx established its reputation as a visionary provider of prescription drug benefits for insured and self-insured groups and discount prescription programs across the country by focusing on strengthening the relationships between patients, their pharmacists and physicians, which ensures that patients can take medicines with confidence and save money. For more information on MHRx, please visit our Web sites at www.mhrx.com.

 

About Mirixa

Mirixa Corporation (formerly Community MTM Services, Inc. or CMTM) is a leading developer of innovative clinical solutions that facilitate pharmacist-based patient care services and a leader in Medication Therapy Management (MTM) technology solutions. Founded by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), Mirixa has assembled the largest pharmacy services network of its kind with over 40,000 contracted community pharmacies - including both independents and chains. Mirixa's technology portfolio empowers the delivery of highly targeted medication management programs, patient education, recruitment campaigns and patient medication records. The company's leadership team shares a vision and passion for improving patient care, reducing overall health costs, and expanding consumer access to accurate medication information. For more information visit www.mirixa.com.