Texas Pharmacy Association

Rxperts Medication Therapy Management

Pharmacy's Vital Role in Driving Patient Outcomes

FAQs for Pharmacy Professionals
Questions Patients are Likely to Ask
Texas Pharmacy Association is committed to the widespread expansion of pharmacy-based MTM services as a cornerstone of its Smart Healthy Living Initiative. MTM programs advance patient outcomes by improving personal management of chronic diseases through education, lifestyle changes and medication management. MTM services also place pharmacists in a vital frontline role in the health-care continuum. MTM can reduce health-care expenses, improve provider coordination in patient care, eliminate unnecessary or conflicting medications and improve compliance with drug and treatment regimens. MTM services deepen the patient-pharmacist relationship, generate additional revenue for pharmacies and provide career-enhancing skills for pharmacists and technicians.

TPA has sponsored several MTM initiatives that have helped advance diabetes patient care in Texas while providing valuable opportunities for pharmacists. So far, these initiatives have focused on diabetes, which affects 1.5 million Texans at a cost of $11.4 billion each year. Future TPA-initiated projects will address asthma, cholesterol, heart disease, smoking cessation and osteoarthritis.

The initiatives help patients better manage their diabetes, by promoting education, physical activity and healthy living as part of their daily routines. Heart disease and stroke cause nearly two-thirds of premature deaths in people with diabetes -- deaths that are preventable with proper medication management. When patients make healthy food choices and commit to regular medications and monitoring plus lifestyle changes, the benefits include lower blood sugar levels, weight loss and a reduced risk of future health problems.

Effective diabetes management can also reduce medication expenses for both employees and employers.

Specialized pharmacists, positioned with employees and their physicians to form a unique relationship. This arrangement allows community pharmacists to:

Provide individualized counseling and medication information;
Encourage proper nutrition, exercise, and weight control;
Teach correct techniques for monitoring blood glucose and emphasize the importance of regular monitoring to overall health and well-being; and
Provide a communication link between diabetes patients and their physicians.

Patients agree to monthly meetings with the pharmacists, who sign up to participate in the program and undergo specialized training. These regular meetings are designed to:

Ensure the patients take their medications;
Help patients stay on track in controlling their disease;
Create a personal relationship with an accessible and knowledgeable health-care provider; and
Identify other health conditions or problems that require medical attention.

“We’re trying to advance the quality of health care by bringing pharmacists and patients closer together to improve personal disease management,” says pharmacist Kim Roberson, TPA’s director of Professional Affairs. “When employers, insurers and providers team up to work with patients, everyone benefits.”