The certainty in consumers’ willingness to accept pharmacist-provided medication therapy management services

Abstract

ObjectivesTo describe consumers’ willingness to accept medication therapy management (MTM) services provided by a pharmacist. DesignCross-sectional Internet survey included questions about willingness to use 11 components of MTM services. ParticipantsThe data of 8352 United States’ adults who were on 3 or more medications were obtained from the 2015 National Consumer Survey on the Medication Experience and Pharmacists’ Roles, which included 26,173 respondents. Main outcome measuresRespondents used a scale that ranged from “definitely would not accept” to “definitely would accept” to specify their willingness to use each of the MTM components. ResultsThe mean age was 53.1 years, with an average of 1.9 health problems and 5.4 prescription medications. About 50% of respondents definitely would accept 6 or more MTM components. The services with the highest rates of “definitely would accept” were “Recommend the use of a generic drug to help save money” and “Provide advice in administering medications as prescribed” (65.4% and 64.2%, respectively). The next highest were “Performing a review of all medications to make sure they are effective, safe, and affordable” and “Recommendation of nonprescription medications to take care of mild ailments or discomforts” (57.0% and 56.4%, respectively). Those who definitely would accept MTM services, compared with those who would not, differed in terms of gender, education level, income, medication insurance coverage, ever having been a pharmacist, and number of health problems. ConclusionThe majority of United States’ adults expressed a certain willingness to accept most of the components of MTM services. More research needs to be done to understand why certain groups were less willing to accept MTM services.