HealthPartners Expands Medication Therapy Management Program
Posted on: Thursday, 13 March 2008, 15:00 CDT
HealthPartners is expanding its medication therapy management program to include fully insured commercial members. The program, implemented in 2006 as part of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, provides free counseling from a clinical pharmacist to eligible members.
"This program is very effective in preventing medication errors which are the most common medical mistake," said Rick Bruzek, vice president of pharmacy services. A 2006 report from the Institute of Medicine concluded that medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people every year. The report estimates that the extra medical costs of treating drug-related injuries occurring in hospitals alone conservatively amount to $3.5 billion a year.
Available at 42 clinics and pharmacies in HealthPartners' network including 15 HealthPartners Clinics, pharmacists review medications taken by members who have at least two chronic conditions, are taking at least four medications and are likely to incur annual drug costs of $4000 or more.
A HealthPartners study found that Medicare patients in the program had an average of two medication errors. The errors include: dosages that are either too low or too high, adverse drug reactions or duplicate medications. The six week study identified drug errors that would likely have required medical interventions ranging from lab tests to hospitalization. Based on the cost of the avoided procedures, HealthPartners estimates the program reduced expenses by $376 per patient. Most of the cost savings is from avoided clinic and specialty visits, emergency room and urgent care.
More than 4,000 Medicare members have participated in the program and HealthPartners estimates that about 8,000 fully insured commercial members will be eligible for the program.
About HealthPartners
Founded in 1957, the HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) family of health care companies serve more than one million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. It is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation, providing care, coverage, research and education to improve the health of members, patients and the community. For the third year in a row, HealthPartners is rated one of the best commercial health plans in the nation by U.S. News & World Report/ NCQA's "America's Best Health Plans 2007."
Source: Business Wire
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