Despite overwhelming evidence of the positive impact pharmacists can have on patient health, pharmacists are not recognized as healthcare providers under the Social Security Act and, therefore, cannot be paid by Medicare for therapy management and patient consultation services. The Social Security Act does recognize other healthcare professionals such as dieticians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and clinical social workers.
By changing the compensation structure allowed under Medicare, we can ensure that patients have access to the medication expertise of pharmacists. Studies have shown that when a pharmacist is directly involved in patient care, patients have fewer adverse drug reactions, experience improved outcomes, and healthcare costs are reduced.
The perils of adverse effects from taking multiple medications affect all age groups. According to a recent survey, just over half of all Americans take at least 2 medications each day and nearly one-third take 4 or more medications each day. For the Medicare population, medication use is even higher — nearly half of Americans aged 65 and older take at least 4 medications each day.
This is a critical safety issue!!
Pharmacist involvement in medication management should be the rule, not the exception. Without Medicare changing the status of pharmacist to allow for reimbursement of direct patient care, this will continue to be the exception. With the aging population and the multiple physicians seen by each, who is better at managing medication related adverse events and drug interactions than the pharmacist. Drug information is best given face to face and not by some pamplet that comes with your mail order prescription.
