a description of medication therapy management services in minnesota

Objective:  To describe Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services in Minnesota, quantifying how many patient encountersoccur per week and compiling provider and practice site characteristics.Design:  Cross‐sectional study.Setting:  Minnesota practice sites surveyed in June and July 2010.Participants:  MTM providers in Minnesota who are registered users of the Assurance®documentation system or are members of theMinnesota Pharmacists Association MTM Academy.  Intervention:  Self‐administered online questionnaire completed by study participants.Main Outcome Measures: The number of patient encounters per week, practice site location, practitioner length of time as a MTMservice provider, and the motivating factors for providing direct patient care services.  Results:  There were 56 respondents, reporting a median of 5 MTM patient encounters per week (range 0 to 35) and a median lengthof service of 4 years (range <1 to 15).  Clinic‐based practices were reported by 66% of providers and community pharmacy‐basedpractices by 30%.  Eighty‐five percent practice in an urban setting, 9% in a large rural town and 6% in a small rural town.  Nearly half(46%) of providers are the sole practitioner at their site.  The most commonly cited motivation for providing direct patient careservices was to improve patient outcomes.Conclusion:  MTM service providers in Minnesota were more likely to report practicing in an urban area and in a clinic.  Manypractices were low‐volume or newly established, with half of all respondents reporting 5 or fewer MTM patient encounters per weekand a length of service of four years or less.