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October 20, 2021 | New GTMRx Study Finds 9 out of 10 Employers Feel They Would Benefit from a More Innovative Way to Manage Medication Therapy Problems
New GTMRx Study Finds 9 out of 10 Employers Feel They Would Benefit from a More Innovative Way to Manage Medication Therapy Problems
Leaders in Comprehensive Medication Management Reveal New Insights from Survey of HR Decision MakersTysons Corner, VA — October 20, 2021 — Today, The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute, the catalyst for change to medication management that brings together critical stakeholders across health care, is revealing the results of a new study of more than 300 human resource decision-makers in the U.S. The survey, which polled HR leaders at companies with 200+ employees about the challenges in medication management, found that 87% feel their company would benefit from a more innovative way to manage medication therapy problems. Nearly all (92%) of those polled feel offering a medication expert and/or clinical pharmacist would be helpful in better understanding medications.
“The landscape for managing the drug benefit is more complex than ever before — and for many employers, that begins with moving beyond formulary design to looking at how medications are being managed for the individual patient — is there someone on the care team asking — is this the right medication for this person?” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of The GTMRx Institute. “Our goal as a group is to continue to listen to the challenges of all groups, including employers, so that we can champion medication management reform at the highest level. We are committed to supporting employers in their journey to prioritize the wellbeing of their workforce as well as the health of their company — and we feel strongly that integrating person-centered and team-based comprehensive medication management (CMM) is the best way to get there.”
The GTMRx Institute — and its membership of close to 1,500 health care, business and consumer leaders — advocates for the broad adoption of CMM, a more rational process of care in which physicians and clinical pharmacists work together to ensure that each medication is appropriate for the patient, effective for their medical condition, safe given the patient’s health status and other medications and able to be taken by the patient as intended.
A majority of survey respondents (55%) report they offer medication adherence programs, but only 53% offer chronic condition management programs and programs that steer patients toward medications documented to produce the most efficacious clinical outcomes. Only 46% of employers offer plans that steer patients toward the most financially affordable medication (when there are not significant differences in clinical efficacy between medications). The data reinforces that employers are committed to improving medication management — but they are in need of new and more innovative solutions. Today there is an opportunity for health care stakeholders to address these needs by moving away from the fragmented medication management programs to integrated, comprehensive solutions.
“This survey highlights what we’ve always known is true — innovative program design for health plans and PBMs is critical for moving beyond formulary design and one-off adherence programs to impacting the medical side by delivering more comprehensive and integrated care, and employers are committed to embracing a new model,” said Paul Grundy, MD, president of the GTMRx Institute. “Advanced primary care that integrates comprehensive medication management can help employers provide the type of programs that focus on appropriate, safe and effective use of medications.”
GTMRx is committed to sharing ongoing insights from critical stakeholders in the fight for CMM and is helping employers manage the process by providing tangible tips to help decrease waste and ensure value from dollars spent on the drug benefit. For more on the steps employers can take to make CMM an integral part of the employee health benefit strategy, visit GTMRx’s employer toolkit.
And for the full Employer Survey results, please contact aimee (at) superior-pr.com – and for more insights, visit the GTMRx Employer Toolkit: https://gtmr.org/employer-toolkit-2/.
About the Get the Medications Right™ Institute
The GTMRx Institute is a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together, bound by the urgent need to get the medications right. We are physicians, pharmacists, nurses, patients, health IT innovators, drug and diagnostics companies, consumer groups, employers, payers—aligned to save lives and save money through comprehensive medication management. By showcasing evidence and innovation, we motivate practice transformation and push payment and policy reform. Together, we ACT to champion appropriate, effective, safe and precise use of medication and gene therapies. Learn more at gtmr.org.About the Survey
Zogby Analytics was commissioned by GTMRx to conduct an online survey of 305 HR decision-makers in the U.S. who worked at companies with 200+ employees. Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error 305 is +/- 5.6 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, if the identical survey were repeated, its confidence intervals would contain the true value of parameters 95 times out of 100.###
Media Contact:
Aimee Eichelberger
Aimee (at) superior (dot) com
312.952.1528July 14, 2021 | Nearly One in Four People Say Their Medications are Not Routinely Reviewed and Evaluated by Their Medical Team
Nearly One in Four People Say Their Medications are Not Routinely Reviewed and Evaluated by Their Medical Team
GTMRx Institute Surveys Over 1,000 Americans on Medication ManagementTysons Corner, VA — July 14, 2021 — Today, The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute is sharing the results of a new survey that assesses the medication management habits and needs of over 1,000 people. Among the findings, nearly one quarter of people surveyed cited that their medications are not routinely reviewed and evaluated by their medical team—a shocking fact, given that one-third are taking four or more medications and/or supplements per day. Additionally, the survey found that nearly one in five people are being prescribed medication from three or more doctors in the past year, leaving even more room for error. With 50% of health care leaders recently citing lack of communication between prescribers and pharmacists as the biggest issue in medication management right now, the results are validating for the many experts who believe now is the time for serious medication management reform.
“The time for a fundamental change in the way medications are managed is now,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of The GTMRx Institute. “We must reform the broken process and move toward a team-based, person-centered approach that recognizes appropriately skilled clinical pharmacists as the medication experts on the team, working in collaborative practice with physicians and other providers. Experts agree that widespread adoption of comprehensive medication management is the right path forward to avoid waste and continued life-threatening medication disasters.”
The GTMRx Institute—and its membership of close to 1,400 health care leaders—advocates for the broad adoption of comprehensive medication management (CMM), a more rational process of care in which physicians and clinical pharmacists work together to ensure that each medication is appropriate for the patient, effective for their medical condition, safe given the patient’s health status and other medications and able to be taken by the patient as intended.
Evidence shows that the financial return on investment (ROI) for CMM programs average around 3:1 to 5:1 and can be as high as 12:1, resulting in a reduction in the direct mean medical cost of between $1200 and $1872 per patient per year. Through the CMM process, clinical pharmacists can prevent—or identify and resolve—medication therapy problems; in collaboration with the physician, they ensure that clinical goals of therapy are achieved. Unfortunately, this service is not widely available to those that can most benefit from it. And while experts and leaders in the health care field know the critical importance of getting the medications right, the survey also found that less than half of Americans know the full scope of a clinical pharmacist’s role. Pharmacists trained to deliver CMM services evaluate whether the medications are working, are safe, effective and appropriate, collaborating with the physician to create a personalized medication plan—which sometimes includes stopping harmful medications.
“The CMM model allows each member of the interprofessional patient care team to focus on what they do best: for clinical pharmacists that’s optimizing medication and for primary care physicians that’s diagnostics and patient relationships,” said Paul Grundy, MD, president of the GTMRx Institute. “For too long we’ve asked physicians to act as storage devices who know every single thing about the patient and be an expert in everything, and that approach has failed. CMM takes undue pressure off physicians and prescribers by letting doctors be doctors.”
For more information on The GTMRx Institute, visit http://www.gtmr.org.
Consumer Explainer Video: https://bit.ly/GTMRConsumerVideo
Consumer Infographic: https://bit.ly/GTMRConsumerInfographicAbout the Get the Medications Right™ Institute
The GTMRx Institute is a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together, bound by the urgent need to get the medications right. We are physicians, pharmacists, nurses, patients, health IT innovators, drug and diagnostics companies, consumer groups, employers, payers—aligned to save lives and save money through comprehensive medication management. By showcasing evidence and innovation, we motivate practice transformation and push payment and policy reform. Together, we ACT to champion appropriate, effective, safe and precise use of medication and gene therapies. Learn more at gtmr.org.About the Survey
Zogby Analytics was commissioned by GTMRx to conduct an online survey of 1,007 adults in the US. The survey was fielded during the following dates: 5/26/21 – 5/27/21. Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education and religion. Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 1,007 is +/- 3.1 percentage points.###
Media Contact:
Aimee Eichelberger
Aimee (at) superior (dot) com
312.952.1528June 15, 2021 | As COVID-19 vaccination rates plateau, health care, public health and business leaders call for formation of Vaccine Confidence Leagues to build vaccine confidence and increase uptake at the community level
As COVID-19 vaccination rates plateau, health care, public health and business leaders call for formation of Vaccine Confidence Leagues to build vaccine confidence and increase uptake at the community level
The Get the Medications Right™ Institute’s National Task Force releases final recommendations to strengthen the nations’ vaccination systemsTysons Corner, VA – June 15, 2021 – Ending the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic requires widespread vaccination, but as the immunization rate slows across the United States, it is unclear whether President Biden’s goal of having all U.S. adults get at least one shot of the vaccine by July 4 can be achieved. Surveys suggest that fully a third of U.S. adults do not want to be vaccinated. Building confidence in the vaccines to boost uptake is urgent, says a new report from the bipartisan GTMRx National Task Force focused on building vaccine confidence in the health neighborhood. The task force calls on communities across the nation to create grassroots organizations called Vaccine Confidence Leagues, which can mobilize trusted messengers from those communities to address individuals’ concerns and boost vaccine confidence and uptake.
The GTMRx Task Force, made up of leaders in health care, public health and academia, offers a framework and enumerates action steps that communities can undertake to build “civic muscle” to pursue vaccination goals. The task force report calls for convening people across the local “health neighborhood”—including health systems, medical societies, non-profit, faith-based and academic organizations, as well as businesses—to take stock of who in the community lacks vaccine confidence and craft plans to address those individuals’ and groups’ concern. Vaccine Confidence Leagues made up of diverse and trusted local individuals, organizations and leadership can then clear up misapprehensions and craft the messages that will be most persuasive to those who remain vaccine hesitant.
A companion report that the task force issued in March pointed out that many factors affect vaccine confidence, including fears of harmful side effects, concerns about how quickly vaccines were developed, religious objections and a variety of conspiracy theories.
“Local leaders can address today’s vaccine concerns and help instill long-term confidence in the scientific discoveries that can help protect us in the future,” said Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon), FASHP, CEO of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and a co-chair of the task force. “These efforts are needed immediately to achieve COVID-19 vaccination goals, and in the future can also be leveraged for broader vaccination and community health efforts.”
Abramowitz co-chairs the task force along with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, and Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow at the Robert J. Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University. The task force’s work was sponsored by the Johnson & Johnson Corp., no employees or affiliates of which served on the task force, engaged in its deliberations or advanced or approved any of its recommendations.
“Lack of COVID-19 vaccine confidence is a serious barrier to public health efforts to protect the population. Without widespread vaccination, we are at increased risk that new, more deadly variants of the virus will develop over time,” said Benjamin. “To spare lives, it’s crucial that more people here and around the world become vaccinated. If there is one thing we have learned from this pandemic, it is the need for a stronger, better resourced public health system to adequately protect the public‘s health.”
“A major strength of our report is that it calls for ‘bottom up’ efforts by communities, who are in the best position to understand who locally remains doubtful about the COVID-19 vaccines and why,” Dentzer said. “These communities can build on local efforts already under way to enhance vaccine confidence today and maintain and expand those efforts into the future—including this fall, when it is likely that vaccines will be authorized for use in children below age 12, and parents may also need to be reassured about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy.”
The task force also issued long-term recommendations to strengthen the nations’ vaccination systems and create environments that will be supportive of greater vaccine confidence in the future. These include making all vaccines available at no out-of-pocket costs to consumers; having all vaccines fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as soon as practicable once all relevant criteria are met; and bolstering the nation’s immunization information systems (IIS) to enable better identification of people and populations who have not been vaccinated.
The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute, which convened the task force, is a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together who are bound by the urgent need to get the medications right. Katherine H. Capps, GTMRx co-founder and executive director, managed the task force’s efforts to examine the issues and arrive at actionable steps to address them.
Capps noted that the task force recommendations allow for flexibility for communities to tailor their approaches to local conditions and concerns. They also pave the way for “collective impact,” calling on organizations across the health neighborhood to rise above their own agendas to build shared solutions to the complex problem of vaccine hesitancy.
“These recommendations equip local leaders and liberate those at the community level who are willing and able to help by offering an overarching strategy they can adapt to meet community needs now,” Capps said. “They complement national efforts, building a ground up approach that blends trust with time in order to effectively move those who haven’t been vaccinated yet and who trust their doctors, pharmacists, faith leaders and other community leaders to work in their best interest.”
May 19, 2021 | Health Care Leaders Say Lack of Communication Between Prescribers and Pharmacists Is Biggest Issue in Medication Management
Health Care Leaders Say Lack of Communication Between Prescribers and Pharmacists Is Biggest Issue in Medication Management
New Data from GTMRx Institute Reveals Some of the Biggest Hurdles in Health CareTysons Corner, VA — May 19, 2021 — Today, The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute is sharing the results of its new medication management survey of over 300 health care leaders on the biggest issues facing the industry. According to one in four of those surveyed—including health care providers, hospital/health system executives, payors, advocacy groups and academics—the biggest issue in health care right now is professional silos that prevent patient-centered integrated care. And when asked what is the biggest issue in managing medications specifically, most chose lack of communication between prescribers (physicians, specialists, etc.) and pharmacists—rather than cost of medications.
“The major discussion around pharmacy benefits centers on access to and affordability of drugs, but the elephant in the room is appropriate use of all medications,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of The GTMRx Institute. “We must find a better way to optimize medication use to avoid life-threatening and wasteful overuse, misuse and underuse. Outside of discussions around the opioid crisis, the tragedy of medication misadventures are not often quantified or brought to the table. How can we manage the over 10,000 drugs available on the market today without re-engineering the process of care toward a systematic, patient-centered and team-based approach? We believe, along with the experts, that a move toward comprehensive medication management (CMM) is the way to get there.”
The survey also looked at the broad awareness and adoption of CMM, a systematic approach to medications where physicians and pharmacists ensure that they are individually assessed to determine the appropriateness, effectiveness and safety of each medication. Although more than 96% of those surveyed believe we need a more comprehensive and integrated way to manage medications, 44% said that CMM is not well understood or not understood at all in their immediate network. And those surveyed know that CMM has the power to create actionable change; nearly 84% of respondents believe that wide adoption of CMM could help stem the opioid addiction crisis.
“The effects that widespread CMM adoption could have are innumerable, but the need is particularly urgent for patients with multiple chronic conditions,” said Paul Grundy, president of the GTMRx Institute. “For patients who are taking multiple medications and seeing multiple physicians, CMM is hands down the best path forward because it improves medical outcomes by ensuring medications are appropriately and effectively used while also reducing the total cost of care. We’ve already seen proven success with CMM in major health systems like the Department of Veterans Affairs, but a complete systematic overhaul will take buy-in from every possible angle.”
Those surveyed recognize that the path to overhaul may not be straightforward. Regarding where the resistance is likely to come from, those surveyed are largely in agreement: nearly half cite resistance from medical carriers/ PBMs to move from management of drugs to delivering a reimbursable process of care as the biggest obstacle to wide adoption of CMM. Conversely though, the survey finds that thoughts on where to start—what the first step should be in changing the way we manage medications—are nearly evenly split: just over one-third of respondents chose physicians working in collaborative practice with pharmacists to help patients reach their clinical goals of therapy, 31% chose access to clinical information at the point-of-care for all team members working with the patient and 27% chose payment for CMM services.
For more information on The GTMRx Institute, visit http://www.gtmr.org.
April 28, 2021 | GTMRx Institute Unveils Tools and Strategies to Help Employers Navigate Health Plans and Adopt Comprehensive Medication Management Practices
GTMRx Institute Unveils Tools and Strategies to Help Employers Navigate Health Plans and Adopt Comprehensive Medication Management Practices
Institute Focused On Getting The Medications Right Reports Savings Up to $1,000 Per Participating Employee Per Year with CMMTysons Corner, VA — April 28, 2021 — Today, The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute, a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together who are bound by the urgent need to get the medications right, is unveiling the GTMRx Employer Toolkit. This suite of resources is designed to equip employers with the knowledge to manage their pharmacy and medical benefit programs effectively. Evidence points to the value of comprehensive medication management (CMM) services as part of a “buy right” strategy to decrease waste and enhance quality; in fact, studies show a reduction in annual total health care costs of $1,000 per participating member on average for those who engage CMM.
“Employers manage health benefits for nearly half the country, and we need to ensure they have access to the right tools to create plan designs that get the medications right, particularly for those with multiple chronic conditions, seeing multiple physicians and taking multiple medications,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of The GTMRx Institute. “The GTMRx Employer Toolkit is a first-of-its kind resource designed to offer a step-by-step approach to help employers work with their vendors to develop programs that manage medication misuse, overuse and underuse and avoid unnecessary waste.”
Core to The GTMRx Institute’s approach is comprehensive medication management, a push toward a more integrated approach to managing medication therapy problems. CMM is personalized, patient-centered and involves the physician working in collaborative practice with a clinical pharmacist and other team members to ensure appropriate use of medications. “Studies have shown that employers who engage CMM benefits not only decrease employee absenteeism, but also reduce emergency room visits and improve employee health; this is especially important for those with chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” said Cheryl Larson, president and CEO of Midwest Business Group on Health and GTMRx Employer Toolkit Taskforce member. “CMM makes sense when so much we are doing today is not working. The evidence shows that this is a vital pathway forward.”
The GTMRx Employer Toolkit & Resource Center offers guidance for employers on how to engage medical carriers, PBMs and other vendors and urges them to use their contract authority to prioritize CMM as a value-driving service. Leveraging deep insights from the GTMRx Employer Toolkit Taskforce, including leaders from the nation’s leading top health care business coalitions, the GTMRx Institute is outlining three steps for employers to take to move toward better health plans:
- Know What You’re Asking For: Arm yourself with knowledge ahead of discussions with your vendors. Medical carriers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) and the like may not be familiar with CMM. Ask them to share their solutions that are designed to manage medication problems that move beyond adherence programs and be open to pilot programs designed to meet the goal of managing medication misadventures on an ongoing basis. Ask your medical carrier, third party administrator and PBM to work with you to create trend reports that identify those members in greatest need for CMM services and track their progress.
- Align Internally and Get Buy-In: Use the data you’ve gathered to gain leadership support within your organization. CMM averages a return on investment around 3:1 to 5:1 the first year, something that may make the sell-in more attractive for your C-suite. Once you have buy-in from the top, ask your brokers to identify new products and services designed to manage medication therapy problems through CMM.
- Use Your Contract Authority and Make Your Move: Be prescriptive in designing contracts to center optimized medication use as an overall patient care and health benefit strategy; use the benefit plan design to shape vendor response and encourage innovative product solutions. Finally, be sure to work with your employer health care coalition and work with primary care providers in your community to identify how you can support advanced primary care services designed to optimize medication use reimbursed through your medical plan design.
“Innovative health plans should be paying for comprehensive medication management services that leverage a clinical pharmacist working in collaborative practice with physicians if they are serious about managing costs, increasing quality and ensuring appropriate care,” said Paul Grundy, MD, President of GTMRx. “We want to help employers realize their power in designing health plans that put medication optimization front and center.”
For more information on GTMRx and how they are moving the needle, visit http://www.gtmr.org.
April 6, 2021 | GTMRx Institute Launches National Task Force to Build Vaccine Confidence
GTMRx Institute Launches National Task Force to Build Vaccine ConfidenceThe Get the Medications Right™ Institute convenes leaders at today’s BPC event to inform the public’s views on vaccination safety, effectiveness and trust
Tysons Corner, VA – April 6, 2021 – Today, the Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute launched a national task force to identify and address the reasons why 45% of Americans don’t feel confident about vaccination against COVID-19. The GTMRx National Task Force: Building Vaccine Confidence in the Medical Neighborhood is designed to forge partnerships with trusted members of the medical “neighborhood”—physicians, nurses, pharmacists and others on the patient care team, as well as public health leaders, social workers, consumer health advocates, social marketing and community health champions—and equip them with tools and messages to build confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.Lack of confidence in vaccines predates the pandemic. But COVID-19’s toll in illness and death, and the need to achieve broad immunity in the population to contain the coronavirus’s spread, underscores the urgency of boosting vaccine confidence as much as possible. Although an estimated two million Americans are receiving a COVID-19 vaccine every day, many are still hesitant to do so. Their concerns range from fears about side effects to lack of trust in the government and the scientific community. Addressing each concern or barrier requires a strategic approach and the engagement of trusted leaders within the medical neighborhood.The task force will inform strategies to engage care teams at the community level to work collaboratively and communicate effectively about vaccination during current and future pandemics. It is co-chaired by three national leaders representing the nexus of health care policy, public health and the medication safety community: Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy; Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon), FASHP, CEO of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; and Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Dentzer will also moderate the kick-off panel, which is co-sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center.The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute is a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together who are bound by the urgent need to get the medications right. Convening a national conversation to build vaccine confidence is a natural step, says Katherine H. Capps, GTMRx co-founder and executive director, who is managing the taskforce’s efforts.“The issues around building vaccine confidence are non-partisan, and we believe we can address them better by listening carefully and addressing those concerns one by one,” Capps said. “There is ample evidence that trusted voices in the medical neighborhood—from pharmacists to nurses, doctors, public health, schools, religious leaders and consumer health advocates—can play a key role in a unified community response.”The GTMRx National Task Force: Building Vaccine Confidence in the Medical Neighborhood will convene over the coming months to hear from expert voices offering guidance to enhance vaccine confidence in the community. This work is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.“Growing confidence in the current and future FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines is vital to bringing an end to the pandemic and getting our lives back to normal,” Abramowitz said. “As health care professionals, consumers and public health leaders, we must continue to work together to enhance public confidence and trust in these safe and highly-efficacious vaccines. The GTMRx National Task Force: Building Vaccine Confidence in the Medical Neighborhood will serve as a visible and important means to help us achieve herd immunity and end a pandemic that has inflicted incredible harm on too many individuals, communities, and society at large.”According to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are distinct demographic divides between those who feel comfortable about receiving a COVID-19 vaccination and those who do not. Confidence is highest among those who are age 65 and older, those who are white and those who identify with the Democratic Party. It is lowest among those who are age 18 to 29, those who are Black and those who identify as Republican. Rural residents are also less confident about vaccination than their city- or suburban-dwelling counterparts.“The mission of public health is to fulfill society’s interest by assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy. Our goal is not only to observe barriers to health in the community but also to develop ways to address them,” Benjamin said. “Building vaccine confidence, both in the current environment and in preparation for future pandemics, is a critical need. We know we’re capable of developing life-saving vaccines within a year of identifying a new disease. Our job now is to learn from our past and bring the assurance our neighbors need about vaccine safety and efficacy.”February 10, 2021 | GTMRx Institute Reaches Seven Year Membership Goal Six Years Early
GTMRx Institute Reaches Seven Year Membership Goal Six Years Early
Institute Focused On Getting The Medications Right Attracts Biggest Leaders in Health Care to Fight for Pervasive IssueTysons Corner, VA — February 10, 2021 — Today, The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute, a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together who are bound by the urgent need to get the medications right, announced it has bested its membership goal more than six years early. The Institute now counts over 1,200 individuals and nearly 800 organizations as members in their fight to save lives and save money by ensuring access to comprehensive medication management (CMM) services. Among these members are some of the highest regarded physicians, health care providers, nurses, health IT innovators, diagnostics firms, drug companies and academic institutions on the subject in the country.
“The need to optimize medications is a commonality among every corner of health care, from physicians to pharmacists, nurses, drug manufacturers to employers as health plan sponsors, insurance providers, consumers, and everyone in between,” said Katherine H. Capps, Co-Founder and Executive Director of GTMRx. “We’re passionate about growing our membership of stakeholders invested in this fight to ensure appropriate use of medications. This requires changing payment models to reward interprofessional team-based care. Not only does our meteoric growth, but also the caliber of our membership, speak for itself. We’re fortunate to count so many of the leaders at the forefront of medical science among our active coalition and are continuing to recruit the best and brightest to be part of our mission.”
In addition to robust growth, GTMRx has published multiple guidance reports to advance medication management reform in the past year. Last July, the Institute released the GTMRx Blueprint for Change, a report based on eight months of multi-stakeholder input and guidance for how to change the way medications are managed, including a roadmap for reform, guided by four pillars of medication management reform: how we practice, how we pay, how we use diagnostics and how we integrate technology. The Institute has also released a suite of Tools from Our Experts, including case studies, infographics, published literature and white papers designed for a variety of stakeholders to help advance the cause through education, advocacy and practice transformation.
At the center of the GTMRx Institute’s approach is a push toward broad adoption of Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM), a practice level, team-based process that includes a personalized, patient-centered approach to medication use with the physician working in collaborative practice with a clinical pharmacist and other team members to ensure appropriate use of medications.
“Now is the time for a mind and policy shift to end thousands of unnecessary deaths due to the current system that leads to medication mismanagement,” said Paul Grundy, MD, GTMRx President and Chief Transformation Officer at Innovaccer. “GTMRx’s mission is simple and important: save lives and money by optimizing medication use through comprehensive medication management rooted in team-based patient care. The evidence exists and with access to companion and complementary diagnostics as a tool during the care process, we now can more precisely target correct therapies and personalized care. Our growth over the past year shows how important this movement is; it’s a cause that nearly everyone can agree upon.”
The GTMRx Institute is actively seeking new members and supporting funders from across the health care continuum. For more information on GTMRx and how they are moving the needle, visit http://www.gtmr.org.
July 22, 2020 | GTMRx Institute Issues New Report Highlighting Need for Medication Management Reform and Steps to Achieve it
The Get the Medications Right™ Institute brings together Leaders in Health Care to Save Lives, Improve Quality of Life and Reduce Cost of CareTysons Corner, VA — July 22 , 2020 — Today, The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute, a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together who are bound by the urgent need to get the medications right, is announcing the launch of “The GTMRx Blueprint for Change,” a robust report based on eight months of multi-stakeholder input and guidance for how to change the way medications are managed, including a roadmap for reform.
As the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 accelerates, preventative medicine has taken center stage and with it continues an important debate around the need for Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM), a practice level, team-based process that includes the patient working in collaboration with the physician and a team that includes a clinical pharmacist.
Studies show nearly 75 percent of physician office and hospital outpatient clinic visits involve medication therapy and almost 30 percent of adults take five or more medications. At the same time, non-optimized medication use leads to at least 275,000 deaths annually and costs over $528 billion. The GTMRx report outlines steps for reform, including an evidence-based process of care that personalizes the approach and leads to better care, reduced costs and improved patient satisfaction and provider work life.
“The health care industry is fighting multiple health crises right now—between COVID-19 and the ongoing opioid epidemic, appropriate use of medications has never been more important,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of GTMRx. “Now is the time to overhaul the process with a person-centered, team-based care approach. More than 10,000 prescription medications are on the market today, and with growing numbers of Americans being prescribed more medications, a new approach is critical and as shepherds for getting medications right, this is our time to reform a broken process.”
The GTMRx Blueprint for Change includes recommendations to engage everyone involved in patient care—from physicians to clinical pharmacists, health plan sponsors, providers, consumer groups and policymakers. The GTMRx Four Pillars of Medication Management Reform include revamping:
- How we practice: Medications are involved in 80 percent of all treatments; however, physicians have little time to speak with patients about new medications during a typical office A team-based approach where a medication expert works in collaborative practice with the physician, can significantly impact cost and quality and optimize medication management. To do this effectively, key stakeholders (i.e. payers, patients, providers) must be educated about the value of CMM.
- How we pay: Prescription drug spending exceeds $300 billion a year, but while price and access have been at the forefront of discussions, the GTMRx Blueprint takes a deeper look into the process of care as the solution. By first ensuring the medication being prescribed is the appropriate one, this evidence-based approach, known as CMM, can help repair this broken system and mitigate the misuse and mismanagement of medications in the future.
- How we use diagnostics: In an effort to uproot today’s trial and error approach to medication use, companion and complementary diagnostics tools, accompanied by a team-based process of care, can help better evaluate medications to ensure they are appropriate for patients. To move this forward, physicians, pharmacists and other team members must understand their value and have the ability to interpret and make use of these new diagnostic tools during the CMM process, and consumers need to recognize their potential to personalize their care.
- How we integrate technology: It is vital for regulators, care providers and payers to work together to establish standards and best practices for interoperability making clinical data available at the point-of-care to enable the CMM process. With risk stratification tools, new data can be aggregated and integrated to identify those who need the service supporting the medication expert in identifying patients that have not achieved clinical goals of therapy.
The GTMRx Institute is funded by leading-edge health care organizations. The Institute currently includes more than 950 members from 650 companies located in 49 states plus the District of Columbia and is actively seeking new members—from physicians, registered nurses and other health care providers, health IT innovators, drug and diagnostics companies, consumer groups, drug manufacturers, payers, employers and other key stakeholders.
To review the findings and advice on how to bring about medication management reform, download the full report.
March 23, 2020 | Primary care advocate Paul Grundy, MD, named interim president of GTMRx Institute
Call to action for a more rational, coordinated, team-based, systematic approach to medication use unites clinicians, advocates, diagnostics, health and tech industriesWASHINGTON, D.C., – March 23, 2020 – The multi-stakeholder Get the Medications Right Institute (GTMRx) elected Paul Grundy, MD, primary care thought leader and one of the Institute’s founding board members, to lead the organization as interim president. Grundy assumes leadership from co-founder Terry McInnis, MD, MPH, outgoing president of the Institute.“Terry’s vision and passion helped launch the GTMRx Institute just one year ago and played a major role in raising awareness of the human and financial cost of non-optimized medication use,” Grundy said. “Only one year after we publicly put a stake in the ground on this issue, and with over 800 members, we have far surpassed our goals to gain a broad-based coalition of support and to champion a solution. I’m honored to be able to build on the blueprint we’ve established together.”Grundy will be joined in leadership by other board members:- Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., chief executive officer, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists;
- Katherine H. Capps, Institute co-founder and executive director, president of Health2 Resources (Secretary);
- Steve Goldberg, MD, vice president medical affairs, population health and chief health officer, health & wellness, Quest Diagnostics;
- Brigadier General (ret.) Allison Hickey, founder, All in Solutions, former undersecretary of the Veterans Benefits Administration (Member-at-Large);
- Ira Klein, MD, senior director of health care quality strategy, Strategic Customer Group, J&J Health Care Services; and
- C. Edwin Webb, Pharm.D., senior policy advisor, American College of Clinical Pharmacy (Treasurer)
Grundy, known as the “godfather” of the patient-centered medical home movement, has spent four decades focused on population health and the value of a healing relationship of trust established with primary care providers. He is chief transformation officer at Innovaccer and previously served as IBM’s chief medical officer and global director, Healthcare Transformation. He serves as adjunct professor at the University of California San Francisco Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine and the University of Utah Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.
“We are quickly moving away from paying for an episode of care to paying for results,” he said. “Since medications are the most common medical intervention, and inadequate therapy accounts for more than half of treatment failures, it’s essential that we move to patient-centered, team-based models that recognize appropriately skilled clinical pharmacists as medication experts working in collaborative practice with physicians.”The Institute recognizes that to target therapies and ensure appropriate use of medications, systems and practices must leverage health information technology for team-based access to clinical information at the point of care and ensure access to companion and complementary diagnostics.To learn more about the GTMRx Institute or to become an executive member, contact us.February 6, 2020 | GTMRx Institute identifies optimizing medication use as the decade’s most urgent, promising opportunity to save lives and money
Call to action for a coordinated, team-based, systematic approach to medication use unites clinicians, advocates, diagnostics, health and tech industriesWASHINGTON, DC – Feb. 6, 2020 –The Get the Medications Right Institute (GTMRx) is issuing a call to action for health care stakeholders to optimize medication use as a way to save lives and save money when it convenes a stellar panel of health care policy leaders in Washington, D.C. at a livestreamed public event at the Bipartisan Policy Center today from 8:30-10:30 a.m. After the public event, leaders from academia, industry, government and care delivery will roll up their sleeves to develop a blueprint for change that GTMRx, with its 750 members, leaders and other partner organizations across the public and private sector, will implement to fundamentally shift the nation’s approach to medication use.Suboptimal use of medications—prescription drugs that make people sicker, are wrong or are not taken as intended—costs 275,000 lives and adds $528 billion across the health care system each year. As concerns about prescription drug costs dominate the national health care debate, real-world evidence points to a solution: Enhance health and drive down costs through coordinated, team-based, patient-centered care models that leverage technology and diagnostics breakthroughs and engage medication experts.“Fixing the current trial-and-error approach to medication use is probably the single largest and most achievable thing we can do to improve health, lower costs and enable each member of the care team to focus on what they do best,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of GTMRx. “With more than 10,000 medications available on the market, we simply can’t continue to provide care the way that we have been. The time has come to scale what we know works to get the medications right.”The event, “Get the Medications Right: Innovations in Team-Based Care,” will include two keynote presentations by The Commonwealth Fund’s Elizabeth Fowler and Gregory Downing of Innovation Horizons and Health Datapalooza, who will offer important context to the challenges and opportunities surrounding optimized medication use in today’s health care system. Following the keynotes, Susan Dentzer with the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy will moderate a discussion to showcase proven strategies at work today across health care settings. Panelists include: the Veterans Health Administration’s Carolyn Clancy, MD, deputy under secretary for discovery, education and affiliate networks; Jerry Greskovic, RPh, CACP, CDE, system director of Ambulatory Pharmacy Programs, Enterprise Pharmacy at Geisinger; and, Daniel Rehrauer, PharmD, senior manager, Medication Therapy Management Program at HealthPartners.“Trailblazers like the VA, Geisinger and HealthPartners have experience and evidence demonstrating how coordinated, team-based, patient-centered care models that integrate medication experts from day one significantly reduce needless suffering and cost,” Capps said. “Because of their leadership, we have a roadmap to achieve delivery system transformation. Our role is to broadly disseminate evidence, provide a platform for change and create the sustainable energy needed to overcome practice, payment and policy barriers.”February 3, 2020 | Tabula Rasa HealthCare Joins GTMRx Institute to Get the Medications Right
Moorestown, NJ – February 3, 2020 – Tabula Rasa HealthCare, Inc. (TRHC) (NASDAQ: TRHC), a healthcare technology company advancing the field of medication safety, announces today it will become an Executive Member of the Get the Medications Right Institute™ (GTMRx). GTMRx defines itself as “a catalyst for change that brings critical stakeholders together, bound by the urgent need to get the medications right.” The Institute’s goal is to ensure appropriate and personalized use of medication and gene therapies by advancing to a scientific, evidence-based and cost-effective decision-making process and a team-based, systematic approach to medication use. By showcasing evidence and innovation, GTMRx motivates practice transformation and pushes payment and policy reform.
“We’re delighted to welcome TRHC as our newest Executive Member, and we applaud their important and achievable goal to optimize medication use,” said Katherine H. Capps, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the GTMRx Institute. “We have the evidence and knowledge we need to fix the trial-and-error approach that is costing lives and billions each year. TRHC, together with others who recognize this urgent need, will help ensure application of this evidence across health care systems.”
According to research published March 26, 2018 in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, and coauthored by Terry McInnis, MD, co-founder of GTMRx, illness and death resulting from the wrong prescription, the wrong dose, skipped doses or new medication-related issues—what the authors call “non-optimized medication therapy”—cost 275,000 lives and an estimated $528 billion a year. That represents 16 percent of total U.S. health care expenditures, according to the research.
“TRHC is joining to support GTMRx at a critical time in healthcare evolution,” said TRHC Co-founder, Chairman and CEO Calvin H. Knowlton, PhD. “More than a decade ago, we founded TRHC with the goal of increasing medication safety. Today, TRHC decreases medication-related risk, reduces adverse drug events, enhances compliance and quality of care, and improves medication-related outcomes through science and technology. We join GTMRx to further the progress of determining the right medication for the right person.”
About Tabula Rasa HealthCare
Tabula Rasa HealthCare (TRHC) is a leader in providing patient-specific, data-driven technology and solutions that enable healthcare organizations to optimize performance to improve patient outcomes, reduce hospitalizations, lower healthcare costs and manage risk. Medication risk management is TRHC’s lead offering, and its cloud-based software applications, including EireneRx® and MedWise™ provide solutions for a range of payers, providers and other healthcare organizations. For more information please visit, www.tabularasahealthcare.com.October 22, 2019 | The GTMRx Institute Celebrates Six Months, Six Hundred Members Strong
Momentum builds for personalized, team-based approach to medication managementVienna, Va., October 22, 2019 – Six months after its launch, the GTMRx Institute (Get the Medications Right TM ) has tripled its annual membership goal, established four workgroups and created a national community of business leaders, policymakers, clinicians and consumer groups united in their urgency to address the health and cost impact of sub-optimal medication use.“We started GTMRx as a way to give structure and lift to the valuable but disparate efforts happening at the local, regional and national level and to facilitate appropriate use of medication and gene therapies,” said GTMRx co-founder and executive director, Katherine H. Capps. “The movement toward value-based payment models creates a tipping point for system-wide transformation. We believe a national platform will get us there more quickly as we engage collaboratively with those who pay for, those who deliver and those who receive care. The support has been astounding and signals both the will, readiness and demand to implement what we know works,” she added.An estimated 275,000 lives and $528 billion are lost each year to sub-optimal medication use, according to a study published in 2018 in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy . GTMRx is addressing this opportunity by working to overcome barriers to the right care.Within its first six months of operation, GTMRx has established a solid foundation and assembled experts to inform an initial set of recommendations around four essential areas needed for change:- Practice and care delivery transformation
- Payment & policy solutions
- Health information technology & AI to support optimized medication use
- Precision medicine enablement via advanced diagnostics.
“We’re tapping into the collective knowledge, experience and expertise of the Board of Directors , Executive Members , Distinguished Fellows , workgroup members, and over 600 members . And we are in a strong position to accelerate the adoption of best practices and proven processes that we know will reduce waste, ensure appropriate diagnosis and improve both health and quality of life,” said Capps.GTMRx also announced today that it will host a multi-stakeholder forum in February 2020 in Washington, D.C. to convene business, policy, clinical and health advocacy leaders to review initial recommendations that will guide their work moving forward as part of a Blueprint for Change.July 3, 2019 | ASHP CEO Abramowitz Joins GTMRx Institute Board of Directors
New Organization Brings Together Multiple Stakeholder Groups to Identify Solutions for Effective and Appropriate Use of Medications.
ASHP today announced that its CEO, Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon.), FASHP has joined the Board of Directors of the GTMRx Institute. The Institute was launched in mid-April to be a “catalyst for change” with a vision to enhance life by ensuring appropriate and personalized use of medication and gene therapies. The organization’s acronym stands for “Get the Medications Right.”
GTMRx seeks to align critical stakeholders, including physicians, pharmacists, caregivers, health IT innovators, drug and diagnostics companies, consumer groups, employers, payers and health systems to advance the adoption of a systematic approach to medication use, enabled by technology, through comprehensive medication management, or CMM.
“The creation of the GTMRx Institute provides a unique opportunity for hospital and health-system pharmacists as highly-valued members of the interprofessional patient care team to work with major stakeholders across healthcare to significantly improve the safety and quality of medication use in the United States.” said Abramowitz. “I am excited to represent ASHP on the GTMRx Board of Directors as we work together to adopt personalized, patient-centered, systematic and coordinated approaches to medication use that improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.”
“Active leadership is critical in this multi-stakeholder effort to ensure appropriate use of medications,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of the Get the Medications Right Institute. “Partners like Paul Abramowitz and ASHP are essential to ensure that we create the critical mass needed to transform practice toward a team-based, systematic approach to medication use while leveraging health information technology and diagnostics.”
ASHP is a founding funder of the Institute, making a three year commitment to ensure the longevity and sustainability of its important work. Noted Abramowitz, “I strongly believe that the GTMRx Institute has an excellent opportunity to reshape our entire healthcare system by demonstrating the value of pharmacist-provided comprehensive medication therapy management with the goal of ensuring that medication use is optimal, safe, and effective for all people all of the time.”
About ASHP
ASHP represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. The organization’s 50,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. For more than 75 years, ASHP has been at the forefront of efforts to improve medication use and enhance patient safety. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists advance healthcare, visit ASHP’s website, www.ashp.org, or its consumer website, www.SafeMedication.com.April 17, 2019 | GTMRx Institute launched to advance evidence-based, appropriate use of medication and gene therapies
Founding organizations include J&J, Medecision, American College of Clinical Pharmacy and Quest Diagnostics
Vienna, Va., April 17, 2019 – The Get the Medications Right™ (GTMRx) Institute launched today as a multi-stakeholder catalyst for change—to raise awareness of and champion a solution for effective and appropriate use of medications. The Institute has a clear call to action: Get the Medications Right.“For the patient, it comes down to one simple question: Are these the right medications for me?” says GTMRx Co-founder and President Terry McInnis , MD, MPH. “While the national focus has been on drug costs, we believe the opportunity to optimize medication use with advanced diagnostics and personalized care can have a much larger impact in reducing total medical cost. It’s critical that we adopt comprehensive medication management (CMM) as a means to assure optimal patient health—to save both lives and money.”The GTMRx Institute is funded by a three-year commitment from leading-edge health care organizations in support of the multi-stakeholder approach. The Institute currently includes more than 100 members and will actively seek new members —health care providers, health IT innovators, drug and diagnostics companies, consumer groups, drug manufacturers, payors and employers and other key stakeholders.Joining McInnis on the board are:- Katherine H. Capps, Institute co-founder and executive director, president of Health2 Resources;
- Paul Grundy, MD, MPH, chief transformation officer, Innovaccer; formerly of IBM and founding president, Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative;
- Brigadier General (ret.) Allison Hickey, founder and CEO, All in Solutions LLC, former undersecretary of the Veterans Benefits Administration;
- Deb Gage, president and CEO, Medecision, a subsidiary of Health Care Service Corporation;
- Steve Goldberg, MD, MBA, vice president, medical affairs, population health and chief health officer, health and wellness, Quest Diagnostics;
- Ira Klein, MD, MBA, senior director, health care quality strategy, Strategic Customer Group, J&J Health Care Services; and
- C. Edwin Webb, Pharm.D., MPH, consultant and senior policy advisor, American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
In addition to board members, the Institute seeks executive members to join those already committed—the Veterans Health Administration and the California Chronic Care Coalition—to lead task forces focused on practice transformation, payment and policy solutions. The first major deliverable in development is a Blueprint for Change that will outline specific steps that need to be taken at the practice, payment and policy levels to make CMM a reality.“We need to put the power of information about medications, treatments and outcomes in the hands of consumers and their care teams who are working collaboratively across the health care system,” says Deb Gage, president and CEO at Medecision and GTMRx Institute board member. “Medecision exists to help unleash better care for consumers, and we cannot achieve our mission of liberating health care without transparency. We’ve seen technology disrupt other industries in ways that provide dramatically increased access to information and ease of work flow. We are right on the precipice of this happening in health care, and we’re excited about the impact the GTMRx Institute will have on improving the health of Americans and our system overall.”According to a study co-authored by McInnis, $528 billion dollars a year, equivalent to 16 percent of total health care spending, is consumed due to non-optimized medication use. The Institute will showcase evidence and expert practices through the GTMRx Institute Learning Network. All relevant stakeholders are invited to join the experts on two kickoff webinars :- “The $528 Billion Opportunity” (1 p.m. EDT April 30) explores the evidence for CMM. Features McInnis and study lead author Jonathan H. Watanabe, PharmD, MS, PhD, associate professor of clinical pharmacy, University of California San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
- “Acting on the $528 Billion Opportunity: Training to Advance Comprehensive Medication Management in Practice” (1 p.m. EDT May 14) delves into the team-based nature of CMM and implications for education and training. Features McInnis and co-author Jan Hirsch, BS Pharm, PhD, director and school of pharmacy founding dean, University of California Irvine School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
