ClearScript Offers Innovative Medication Therapy Management Program to Employee Health Plans

MINNEAPOLIS, Mar. 21 /PRNewswire/ --

MINNEAPOLIS, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- ClearScript today announced that it is introducing Medication Therapy Management (MTM) as a benefit option to employer health plans across the US. A landmark study published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association cites a 12-to-1 return on investment for patients receiving MTM services through improved health outcomes and lower total health care expenditures.

"We are pleased to move MTM from successful pilot stage to a fully-fledged service available directly to employers," said Mike Reinke, ClearScript President. "MTM meets an urgent need for employers and health plan managers who are scrambling to contain plan costs while optimizing employee health and satisfaction."

ClearScript will provide MTM services through a network of specially trained pharmacists who provide 1-on-1 consultations with patients struggling with chronic diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. Together with the patients' physicians and other healthcare providers, MTM pharmacists help patients solve medication-related problems, adhere to drug regimens and achieve optimal health outcomes.

ClearScript's MTM service model was developed collaboratively by Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Study results are documented in the March, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association in an article entitled Clinical and Economic Outcomes of Medication Therapy Management Services: The Minnesota Experience (Isetts, et al. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2008;48(2):203-211). The article reports on the effects of face-to-face MTM services in 285 patients with multiple medical conditions and complex drug therapies compared against a similar group of 252 patients who did not receive MTM services. Patients receiving MTM services demonstrated significant improvement in drug therapy goals achieved, drug problems resolved, and selected Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures. In addition, total annual health expenditures were significantly decreased in the MTM patients when measured against the pre-MTM service baseline. The decreased health expenditures resulted in an astonishing 12:1 return on investment for MTM services.

"The 12:1 ROI provides dramatic evidence of the value of medication therapy management services," says Amanda Brummel, Pharm.D., MTM Operations Manager, Fairview Pharmacy Services. "Using the systematic clinical approach of the pharmaceutical care model, MTM pharmacists help improve quality indicators and lower healthcare expenditures for their patients."

About ClearScript

ClearScript, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairview Pharmacy Services, LLC, provides pharmacy benefit management services to self-insured health plan sponsors and health systems. ClearScript operates on a fully-transparent, fee-for-service basis, providing full disclosure of business practices and 100 percent pass-through of drug rebates to plan sponsors. In addition, it offers cost-saving, clinically appropriate programs including medication therapy management, tablet splitting, generic optimization and over-the-counter utilization. To learn more, visit http://www.clearscript.org.