ASHP Applauds Inclusion of Pharmacists' Services in Affordable Health Care For America Act
House Health Care Reform Bill Expands Pharmacists' Ability to Impact Patient Care
11/9/2009
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is encouraged by the inclusion of measures allowing for pharmacist-provided medication therapy management services in the health care reform legislation passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) creates a medication therapy management (MTM) grant program managed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that would enable pharmacists to provide MTM services to chronically ill patients, as part of a coordinated care plan among the patient’s caregivers. The bill also expands eligibility for loan forgiveness to pharmacy graduates who make a commitment to practice in underserved areas.
“The inclusion of these provisions represents recognition of the immense value that pharmacists bring to the contemporary health care system,” said ASHP President Lynnae M. Mahaney, M.B.A., FASHP. “These measures will help improve outcomes for our nation’s most vulnerable patients and will contribute to reduced costs for the health care system.”
The MTM grant program may be implemented in all practice settings and in innovative care delivery models such as the medical home model.
ASHP actively lobbied for the inclusion of the provisions and educated House members and staffers on the important contributions that pharmacists provide as part of the health care team. 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.
About ASHP
For more than 60 years, ASHP has helped pharmacists who practice in hospitals and health systems improve medication use and enhance patient safety. The Society's 35,000 members include pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who practice in inpatient, outpatient, home-care, and long-term-care settings, as well as pharmacy students. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists help people make the best use of medicines, visit ASHP's Web site, http://www.ashp.org, or its consumer Web site, http://www.safemedication.com.
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