Reports from College of Pharmacy Advance Knowledge in Managed Care (Qualitative Analysis of Telephonic Comprehensive Medication Review Content and Delivery): Managed Care

2023 JUN 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- New research on Managed Care is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Tucson, Arizona, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Comprehensive medication reviews (CMRs) are offered to eligible Medicare benefi-ciaries to improve patient medication knowledge, identify, and address medication concerns, and empower medication self-management. However, the specific content of real-world CMRs is unclear.”

Financial support for this research came from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc, Kenilworth, NJ, USA.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the College of Pharmacy, “To qualitatively assess CMR content and delivery among telephonic CMR providers. This qualitative thematic analysis used transcriptions of audio-recorded patient in-teractions during CMRs from 3 telephonic medication therapy management provider organiza-tions. Data were qualitatively analyzed using the inductive saturation model to code emergent themes by independent reviewers who met to agree themes through consensus. Intercoder reliability was calculated using Krippendorf alpha. Overall, 32 CMR transcripts from 3 organizations were analyzed in 13 rounds of coding. Intercoder reliability was >95%. A total of 21 themes were identified across 4 stages: call opening (4 themes), medication reconciliation (5 themes), clinical assessments and guidance (8 themes), and call closing (4 themes). The call opening stage included: service explanation; insurance coverage/ cost; identity/privacy/recording; and patient’s medication management. Medication reconciliation included: drug name, dose, frequency, and indication; medication deletion and addition; over-the-counter and vaccination assessment; drug efficacy assessment; and prescribing provider assess-ment. Clinical assessments and guidance included 4 core clinical assessments: allergy assessment; drug therapy problem assessment; drug-related adverse events; and medication modification; and 4 additional assessments: clinical/therapeutic guidance; cost savings guidance; diet/exercise/ lifestyle guidance; and optional clinical and behavioral assessments. Call closing included: docu-mentation; primary care provider confirmation; patient satisfaction; and call transfer. There were variations among organizations in the depth that CMR components were covered. These findings suggest provider organizations are including components that meet Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services goals for CMRs.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Yet, variations among or-ganizations indicate a need for standardization and patient-centered measures to ensure appropriate CMR components are covered, while maintaining fiexibility for pharmacists to provide patient-oriented CMRs that meet patients’ clinical needs.(.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Qualitative Analysis of Telephonic Comprehensive Medication Review Content and Delivery. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 2023;63(2):555-565. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from David R. Axon, College of Pharmacy, 1295 North Martin Ave, Pob 210202, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States. Additional authors for this research include Harman Dhatt, Shannon Vaffis, Darlena Le, Patrick J. Campbell, Heather Black, Irina Kolobova, Mel L. Nelson and Terri Warholak.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2022.11.006. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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