Health Care Reform Bill Offers Opportunities for Pharmacists
6/10/2009
Legislators have issued the first draft of health care reform legislation, which features a provision that would provide grants to implement pharmacist-provided medication therapy management and includes several other measures championed by ASHP.
Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee yesterday released the “Affordable Health Choices Act.” The bill would create:
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A patient safety research center that would award grants for pharmacist-provided medication therapy management services to chronically-ill patients.
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Community health teams, to provide transition care, including medication reconciliation and discharge planning with medication therapy management services under the medical home model.
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A national health care workforce commission to gather and disseminate information about on health workforce supply, education and training capacity, look to integrate health care training.
ASHP actively lobbied HELP committee staffers on the important contributions that pharmacists provide as part of the health care team. The Society urged policymakers to incorporate pharmacists’ services into the medical home model and to include pharmacists and clinical pharmacists in definitions of the health care workforce and health professionals that are part of the bill.
ASHP also took a lead role in the work of the coalition, Leadership for Medication Management, which lobbied lawmakers to include the medication therapy management grant provision in the bill.
The HELP committee is expected to review or “mark up” the legislation next week. The legislation is first of many proposals expected to be released in the coming weeks.
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