Report of the 2010-2011 Professional Affairs Committee: Effective Partnerships to Implement Pharmacists’ Services in Team-Based, Patient-Centered Healthcare

According to the Bylaws of the AACP, the Professional Affairs Committee is to study: issues associated with the professional practice as they relate to pharmaceutical education, and to establish and improve working relationships with all other organizations in the field of health affairs. The Committee is also encouraged to address related agenda items relevant to its Bylaws charge and to identify issues for consideration by subsequent committees, task forces, commission, or other groups. COMMITTEE CHARGE President Rodney A. Carter charged the 2010-2011 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Professional Affairs Committee with: Examining how AACP and its members can most effectively partner with a variety of key stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of pharmacist services (e.g., MTM, primary care) as the standard for team-based, patient-centered care. Members of the 2010-2011 Professional Affairs Committee include faculty from various colleges and schools of pharmacy as well as pharmacy practice association representatives from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). In order to fulfill the Committee charge, the Committee members met for a day and a half in Arlington, Virginia in October 2010 to discuss the committee charge and develop a plan of action to address the charge. Following this meeting, the Committee communicated via a series of conference calls as well as personal exchanges via telephone and email. The result is the following report which is positioned to discuss various models of care, challenges and opportunities pertaining to the charge, successful practices of AACP members and multiple pharmacy practice organizations, and recommendations to AACP in response to the Committee charge. BACKGROUND The pharmacy profession has been intransition from a product-based to a patient-centered care model since the introduction of the pharmaceutical care philosophy in the 1990s. (1) This transition has been accomplished to varying degrees in different pharmacy practice settings and has been influenced by a variety of factors including the transition to the clinically-focused Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree as the entry level degree and the increasing recognition that medication-related problems pose a significant threat to public health. (2) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recognized the importance of medication therapy management (MTM) services by requiring all Medicare Part D plans to provide MTM as part of their programs. Recent healthcare reform (HCR) legislation includes provisions for MTM and pharmacist-provided services as part of integrated team-based care models designed to improve the quality of healthcare delivered in the United States. (4) Pharmacists are well-positioned to serve as the medication therapy expert on the healthcare team. (5) Currently, MTM services are not offered to all patients in all settings. This creates a situation of inequality and fragmentation of pharmacy services. It is imperative that the profession and the Academy accelerate the implementation of patient-centered, team-based care as the standard of pharmacy practice with the availability of MTM services to all patients. This vision has been clearly articulated in the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) vision for pharmacy practice. (6) Identification of the factors that are impeding the realization of this vision and the development of strategies to accelerate its adoption as the standard of pharmacy practice in 2015 are the focus of this report. With the current HCR legislation, increasing the momentum for implementation of medication management services and chronic disease management services provided by pharmacists is a critical issue for pharmacy practice and education. …