Medica Selects Fairview Pharmacy Services, LLC to Deliver Medication Therapy Management Services to City of Minneapolis Employees

MINNEAPOLIS, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Medica Health Plans has chosen Fairview Pharmacy Services, LLC to provide Medication Therapy Management (MTM) to City of Minneapolis employees and family members with Medica health plan coverage. The program will bring pharmacists and members together for one-to-one consultations in person, by phone, and using cutting-edge webcam technology.

Fairview Pharmacy Services, LLC is a business unit of Fairview Health Services, the not-for-profit, integrated healthcare network serving Minneapolis-St. Paul and communities throughout greater Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

"We are pleased to bring Fairview's MTM services as a pilot program to a group of our members who use multiple medications to manage complex, chronic illnesses," said Kevin Ronneberg, M.D., Medica medical director. "Based on its solid track record, Fairview MTM improves clinical outcomes. Improved health through a flexible consultation model leads to fewer unnecessary emergency room visits and inpatient stays while providing cost savings for our members."

Fairview provides MTM services through a network of specially trained pharmacists who have one-to-one consultations with patients struggling with chronic diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. Together with the patients' physicians and other healthcare providers, MTM pharmacists help patients solve medication-related problems, adhere to drug regimens and achieve optimal health outcomes. Fairview MTM can bring a 3-to-1 or greater return on investment by lowering overall healthcare costs of participants.

Fairview's MTM service program offers Medica's City of Minneapolis employees and family members unique flexibility in keeping their important appointments with the program's pharmacists: Appointments can take place at designated clinic sites, by phone, or by an innovative webcam system that enables pharmacists and patients to have virtual "anytime, anywhere" consultations.

"Our MTM consultations are clinically rigorous and as convenient for the patient as they can possibly be," said Amanda Brummel, Pharm.D., MTM Program Manager, Fairview Pharmacy Services. "We are pleased that Medica has chosen us to partner in this important step in helping employees manage and improve their health and well-being."

Fairview's MTM service model was developed collaboratively by Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Fairview MTM programs have cared for more 11,000 patients and resolved more than 48,000 medication therapy problems, avoiding 17,000 costly healthcare events such as hospitalizations, clinic visits and emergency room visits. Fairview MTM programs consistently receive high approval ratings by participating patients and their physicians for improving health, well-being, and quality of life.

"Statistics on our MTM programs provide dramatic evidence of the value of medication therapy management services," says Brummel. "Using the systematic clinical approach of the pharmaceutical care model, MTM pharmacists help improve quality indicators and lower healthcare expenditures for their patients."

About Fairview Pharmacy Services

Fairview Pharmacy Services, LLC is a leader in providing Medication Therapy Management (MTM) as a value-based benefit to health plans, employers, and communities. Services include virtual and in-person pharmacist consultations, operational management, targeting of qualified members, employee engagement and communications, incentive programs, and clinical outcomes reporting. Organizations utilizing Fairview MTM include the City of Duluth, General Mills Inc, the State of Minnesota, Medica, and Fairview Health Services. For more information, visit www.fairview.org/pharmacy/medication.

About Medica Health Plans

Medica is a health insurance company headquartered in Minneapolis and active in the Upper Midwest. With nearly 1.5 million members, the non-profit company provides health care coverage in the employer, individual, Medicaid, Medicare and Medicare Part D markets in Minnesota and a growing number of counties in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network.

SOURCE Fairview Pharmacy Services, LLC