Medication Therapy Management: Is it Worth Medicare’s Time?

Problem: Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is a service that a pharmacist can provide to any of their patients, but mostly to those who are either high risk patients for adverse events or those who are new to chronic medication therapy. As Medicare Part D has begun to cover MTM services, more and more pharmacists and other clinicians are becoming providers of MTM. The intent of MTM is to decrease adverse events and healthcare costs to both the patient and the third party payer. In realizing the benefits of MTM, it is important to assess these outcomes to see if clinical, humanistic, and economic benefits are being realized. However, the available knowledge and studies on MTM outcomes are very limited in scope and most results are inconclusive. This study contributes to the limited knowledge on whether patients find MTM services to be worth an investment of their time. Research Strategy: This retrospective analysis was designed to evaluate a small sample of previously surveyed patients qualifying for MTM services at 8 pharmacies in Kentucky. The main point of interest is the effect of patient characteristics on a person’s willingness to purchase MTM services. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study group. Logistic regression was used for the prediction of the probability of the patient’s willingness to pay for the MTM service. There is special interest on the findings associated with the differences in a patient’s value of time between the Medicare Part D qualifying age group and the non-qualifying age group. Major Findings: There was a difference between the age groups when looking at the value of time variables. Those patients in the age group not qualifying for Medicare Part D who place more than $5.00/hr value to their time decreases the probability that they will purchase the MTM service. This was not a significant finding in the Medicare Part D qualifying group. Recommendations: The results provide preliminary insight into whether investments in MTM services are worth public and private monetary resources when considering a patient’s willingness to spend their time to receive the service. Healthcare policy makers should be cognizant of the targeted population and the standards to be achieved when making their decisions related to MTM services