Health Care Reform Legislation Would Expand Access To Pharmacist Patient Care Services

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 14 Jun 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Legislation released June 9 by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) would expand access to pharmacist-delivered medication therapy management (MTM) services for patients suffering from chronic diseases.

The Affordable Health Choices Act - not yet introduced in the Senate - would provide grants to expand opportunities for pharmacists to deliver MTM services through local community-based, multi-disciplinary health teams to patients who suffer from chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

The announcement was welcomed by a coalition of 14 national pharmacy organizations established to raise awareness about the human and financial costs of inappropriate medication use.

The U.S. healthcare system currently incurs more than $177 billion annually in mostly avoidable health costs to treat adverse drug events from the inappropriate use of medications. In addition, the treatment of chronic disease costs our health system $1.3 trillion annually - about 75 cents of every healthcare dollar.

MTM services provided by pharmacists, working with physicians and other healthcare providers, helps improve therapeutic outcomes, reduces medication errors and adverse drug events, enhances coordination of care, improves patients' overall quality of life, and reduces overall healthcare costs.

The pharmacy profession, encompassing all practice settings, applauds the Senate HELP Committee proposal for identifying the problems associated with inappropriate medication use and for recognizing the important role of pharmacists as providers of clinical care services that can improve the quality of patient care by focusing on appropriate medication use and can contribute to reducing overall costs in the treatment of chronic diseases.

The coalition particularly recognizes the efforts of Senators Kennedy, Dodd (D-CT), Enzi (R-WY), Gregg (R-NH) and Mikulski (D-MD) who worked hard on behalf of patients to secure these important provisions.

The fourteen coalition members are:

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP)
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)
American Pharmacist Association (APhA)
American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP)
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)
College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP)
Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA)
National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS)
National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)
Rite Aid Corporation
Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access (SNHPA)
Walgreens

Source
American Pharmacist Association