DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health has launched the Medication Therapy Management Solution to help payers improve their plan members’ quality of care and their performance on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Five-Star Quality Ratings System.

Cardinal said Monday that Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services provide a framework for pharmacists to systematically reduce medication errors and improve medication adherence. Patients who are most likely to benefit from the solution are those who are chronically ill, managing multiple health conditions and taking several medications.

CMS’ Star Ratings system employs several measures specific to medication use, including one that tracks the percentage of MTM-eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries who receive a comprehensive mediation review (CMR) each year, Cardinal noted.

According to Brad Tice, product leader for the Cardinal Health Medication Therapy Management Solution, health plans that find innovative ways to deliver MTM services to their members are likely to improve their performance on this and other medication-related Star Ratings measures.

Earlier this year, Cardinal Health — which serves more than 8,000 independent pharmacies and thousands more chain pharmacies — launched a solution to make it easier for retail pharmacies to deliver MTM services to patients. The retail pharmacies that have participated in that program have delivered nearly four times as many CMRs as the industry average, the company reported.

Cardinal’s new MTM Solution for payers will scale that program nationally, bringing a new MTM delivery model to market, Tice pointed out. "It’s time for new MTM models that can help payers meet regulatory requirements while also ensuring value is delivered to the patient and payer," he said in a statement.

The Cardinal MTM Solution helps payers identify, target and reach at-risk members. Cardinal compiles member data (including medical, lab, pharmacy and social/demographic data) from numerous sources to identify medication-related gaps in care. Cardinal then applies a predictive modeling engine, with clinical rules and a quality measures assessment, to identify members who could benefit most from pharmacist intervention.

Next, Cardinal works to deliver MTM services to at-risk members, either via a community pharmacy that participates in its MTM network or through a Cardinal Health-licensed pharmacist certified in MTM. The results from the MTM consultations are then analyzed by Cardinal, which identifies closed gaps in care. 

In addition, the MTM solution tracks financial savings and plan performance improvements, including pharmacy spend, medical spend and Star Ratings performance.

"Our pharmacist-delivered MTM Solution, empowered by predictive modeling tools and back-office support, helps ensure that a health plan’s most at-risk patients receive a comprehensive medication review and other personalized counseling services that help drive medication adherence and improve overall health outcomes," Tice added.