Awareness of and Readiness for Medication Therapy Management Among Community Pharmacists in New York City: Results from a Focus Group

For pharmacist-provided Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services to operate effectively and efficiently, pharmacists must understand the process of MTM delivery, assess the barriers and challenges in creating a sustainable MTM program, and realize the willingness and readiness of their colleagues to deliver such services. In order to assess feasibility of such services among high-risk neighborhoods in New York City (NYC), a focus group design was used to qualitatively assess pharmacists’ perceptions of MTM. Findings showed that reimbursement and allocation of resources were the most discussed challenges/barriers to the provision of pharmacist-provided MTM services. Overall, pharmacists were willing, but not yet ready, to provide MTM services on a large scale. Lack of understanding of MTM structure/process, reimbursement challenges, and the need for collaboration between providers were key components to pharmacists’ willingness to provide services. Additional training opportunities were deemed necessary for them to feel confident to conduct clinical services. Although pharmacists discussed several issues regarding MTM, they were still interested in participating and seeing how MTM would impact their community practice settings. Understanding these perceptions of pharmacists on MTM allowed us to better understand and assess ways for continuous quality improvement of services that will enhance patient care.