A medication therapy management (MTM) pilot program implemented for Tennessee Medicaid beneficiaries demonstrated no cost savings or consistent improvements in medication use, but did reduce emergency department visits. Researchers presented their findings at AMCP 2022.

“As part of the Tennessee Health Care Innovation Initiative’s focus on primary care transformation, an MTM program for Tennessee Medicaid members was launched in July 2018 to improve disease management and outcomes by further integrating pharmacists into the patient-centered medical home model,” authors noted.

The multiyear prospective pilot study was aimed at determining the program’s impact on costs, adherence, and health care resource utilization from July 2018 to December 2020. Pharmacists were trained before the program began and then used a multipayer, online care coordination tool to provide services to members.

MTM services were provided to 1352 members who tended to be Black (45.6%), female (60.1%), and adults, although more minors were included as the study progressed.

The pilot program did not result in cost savings or consistent improvements in medication use. Researchers did, however, find a reduction in mean and counts of emergency department use, as well as improvements in asthma medication ratio (.48 vs .31; P < .05) and adherence to oral antidiabetic medications, defined as proportion of days covered over 80% (36.3% vs 29.7%; P < .001).

“This pilot demonstrated that MTM services can lead to some desired outcomes, but results suggest that a more targeted approach may be needed to realize consistently significant impacts,” researchers concluded.

Reference:
Williams-Clark R, Underwood L, Ndrianasy E, et al. Impact of the Tenncare medication therapy management pilot program. Poster presented at: AMCP 2022; March 29-April 1, 2022; Chicago, IL.