The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) implemented in 2006 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires prescription drug (Part D) plans for Medicare beneficiaries to establish medication therapy management (MTM) programs with a purpose to """"""""optimize therapeutic outcomes ... by improving medication use and reducing adverse events..."""""""" MTM services are particularly beneficial for patients with chronic diseases, in whose management pharmacotherapy plays a major role, such as hypertension and diabetes, and especially the elderly. Because the prevalence of these diseases and prevalence of poor control of them are higher in racial and ethnic minorities than Whites, MTM could be an important tool for reducing these disparities. However, our recently published analyses of historical data demonstrate that racial and ethnic minorities would be less likely to be eligible for MTM than Whites. This result is not surprising considering that MTM eligibility criteria are based predominantly on previous drug utilization and costs, and racial and ethnic minorities historically tend to use fewer prescription drugs and incur lower prescription drug costs than do Whites. To understand the health implications of MTM eligibility criteria for minorities, we propose to address whether the racial and ethnic disparities in health status, health services utilization and costs, and medication utilization patterns among MTM-eligible individuals are different from the disparities among MTM-ineligible individuals. This is an important question because greater disparities among MTM-ineligible individuals would suggest that the MTM eligibility criteria have the potential to aggravate racial and ethnic disparities. It is important to include as study outcomes health status, health services utilization and costs, and medication utilization patterns, because the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act (PPACA) and the existing literature identified improvements of these aspects as outcomes to achieve through providing MTM services. Racial and ethnic disparities in all these aspects have also been reported. The National Institute on Aging has identified racial and ethnic disparities among Medicare beneficiaries as a funding priority.
Our Specific Aim i s to compare, using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey linked to Medicare claims records, racial and ethnic disparities in study outcomes among MTM-eligible and MTM- ineligible Medicare beneficiaries based on various government regulations and policies. We will analyze policy scenarios by using data from before and after Part D implementation, comparing 2004-2005 and 2007-2008 relative to changes from 2001-2002 to 2004-2005, and determine the impact of the MTM eligibility criteria laid out in MMA and PPACA. We will use a variety of multivariate modeling techniques. Because our pilot data already showed greater racial disparities in health status among the MTM-ineligible than the MTM-eligible, this study is highly likely to produce meaningful results. Our long-term goal is to determine the types of government policies and congressional legislations that can reduce disparities.

Public Health Relevance

The National Institute on Aging has identified racial and ethnic disparities among Medicare beneficiaries as a funding priority. This research project assesses the impact of Federal policies on medication therapy management services for Medicare beneficiaries in terms of racial and ethnic disparities in health status, health services utilization and costs, medication utilization patterns, and the implications for disparities in therapeutic outcomes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG040146-02
Application #
8321965
Study Section
Health Disparities and Equity Promotion Study Section (HDEP)
Program Officer
Bhattacharyya, Partha
Project Start
2011-09-01
Project End
2014-06-30
Budget Start
2012-07-01
Budget End
2013-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$298,728
Indirect Cost
$98,910
Name
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Pharmacy
DUNS #
941884009
City
Memphis
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
38163
Jamison, JoEllen Jarrett; Wang, Junling; Surbhi, Satya et al. (2016) Impact of Medicare Part D on Racial and Ethnic Minorities. Divers Equal Health Care 13:326-333
Wang, Junling; Hong, Song Hee (2015) Contingent valuation and pharmacists' acceptable levels of compensation for medication therapy management services. Res Social Adm Pharm 11:e121-32
Wang, Junling; Qiao, Yanru; Shih, Ya-Chen Tina et al. (2015) Potential Health Implications of Medication Therapy Management Eligibility Criteria in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Across Racial and Ethnic Groups. J Manag Care Spec Pharm 21:993-1003
Wang, Junling; Surbhi, Satya; Kuhle, Julie W (2014) Receipt of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors or Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers among Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes and Hypertension. J Pharm Health Serv Res 5:67-74
Wang, Junling; Surbhi, Satya; Zhang, Zhiping et al. (2014) Historical trend of racial and ethnic disparities in meeting Medicare medication therapy management eligibility in non-Medicare population. Res Social Adm Pharm 10:904-917
Wang, Junling; Qiao, Yanru; Tina Shih, Ya-Chen et al. (2014) Potential effects of racial and ethnic disparities in meeting Medicare medication therapy management eligibility criteria. J Pharm Health Serv Res 5:109-118
Wang, Junling; Qiao, Yanru; Tina Shih, Ya-Chen et al. (2014) Potential health implications of racial and ethnic disparities in meeting MTM eligibility criteria. Res Social Adm Pharm 10:106-125
Wang, Junling; Munshi, Kiraat D; Hong, Song Hee (2014) Racial and ethnic disparities in influenza vaccinations among community pharmacy patients and non-community pharmacy respondents. Res Social Adm Pharm 10:126-40
Munshi, Kiraat D; Shih, Ya-Chen T; Brown, Lawrence M et al. (2013) Disparity implications of the Medicare medication therapy management eligibility criteria: a literature review. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res 13:201-16
Wang, Junling; Ford, Lindsay J; Wingate, La'Marcus et al. (2013) Effect of pharmacist intervention on herpes zoster vaccination in community pharmacies. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003) 53:46-53

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