Pharmacy: An Introduction to the Profession, 2nd edition

Author: L. Michael Posey

Chapter 11

This final chapter of Pharmacy: An Introduction to the Profession provides selected readings from recent pharmacy literature. Its purpose is to give the future pharmacist an appreciation for contemporary discussions of areas of controversy and detailed information on topics presented in other chapters of this textbook.

Medication Therapy Management
Gans JA. Fulfilling pharmacy’s destiny: a project for the ages. Pharm Today. 2008(May):14.
In this editorial, APhA’s Executive Vice President comments on plans to transform community pharmacies into health care centers.

American Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation. Medication therapy management in pharmacy practice: Core elements of an MTM service model (version 2.0). J Am Pharm Assoc. 2008;48:341–53. (textbook pages XXX–XXX).
This document updates the five basic services—the “core elements”—pharmacists should uniformly provide when delivering MTM services to patients: medication therapy review, personal medication record, medication-related action plan, intervention and referral, and documentation and follow-up.

Schommer JC, Planas LG, Johnson KA, Doucette WR. Pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (part 1): provider perspectives in 2007. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2008;48:354–63.
The diffusion of MTM services into pharmacy practice is documented in this report on the second year of coverage under the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.

Schommer JC, Planas LG, Johnson KA, Doucette WR. Pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (part 2): payer perspectives in 2007. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2008;48:478–86.
In this complementary article, payers add their perspective on the value of MTM services and plans for expanded coverage in the future.

Fera T, Bluml BM, Ellis WM, et al. The Diabetes Ten City Challenge: interim clinical and humanistic outcomes of a multisite community pharmacy diabetes care program. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2008;48:181–90.
The American Pharmacists Association Foundation has been instrumental in demonstrating the impact of pharmacists’ MTM services to employees and their dependents. This report shows that the professional practice model can be scaled up from local demonstration projects and replicated in a wide variety of employer and geographic settings.

Somma McGivney M, Meyer SM, Duncan–Hewitt W, et al. Medication therapy management: its relationship to patient counseling, disease management, and pharmaceutical care. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2007;47:620–8.
Pharmacy has had a succession of buzzwords to describe its approach to clinical practice. This article compares and contrasts the concepts of patient counseling, disease management, pharmaceutical care, and MTM.

Posey LM. Stebbins integrates MTM Core Elements into office-based practice. Pharm Today. 2008(Mar):56–62.
Working in a 120-physician group practice in Sacramento, Calif., Marilyn Stebbins, PharmD, exemplifies the new frontier of pharmacists providing MTM to patients day in and day out.

Challenges in the Pharmacy Workplace
Knapp KK, Cultice JM. New pharmacist supply projections: lower separation rates and increased graduates boost supply estimates. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2007;47:463–70.
While the supply of pharmacists has been increased by the recent trends documented in this article, demand continues to be healthy, and salaries are higher than ever.

Walton SM, Knapp KK, Miller L, Schumock GT. Examination of state-level changes in the pharmacist labor market using Census data. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2007;47:348–57.
When there’s a pharmacist shortage, some states are more affected than others, as this article demonstrates.

Brown CM, Cantu R, Corbell , Roberts K. Attitudes and interests of pharmacists regarding independent pharmacy ownership. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2007;47:174–80.
Once a profession dominated by owners of independent pharmacies, pharmacy is now more of a profession of employees of large corporations and health systems. This article quantifies that shift in pharmacists’ priorities and preferences.

Egervary A. Preparing health care for baby boomers’ golden years. Pharm Today. 2008(May):36.
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the baby boomers are reaching retirement age, and the health care system is inadequately prepared for the coming onslaught of seniors.

Assuring quality in health care
Sheffer J. Paving the way for high-quality health care. Pharm Today. 2008(Jan):49–50.
This article discusses mechanisms being discussed that might someday reimburse pharmacies and pharmacists based on outcomes rather than specific services rendered. “Pay for performance,” a trend in health care financing known by the acronym P4P, could one day change the face of pharmacy.