Evaluation of Pharmacist Involvement in Medicare Wellness Visits.

PURPOSE:: To evaluate the difference in the number of drug therapy interventions between patients seen by pharmacists and patients seen by nonpharmacist providers during Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs).

METHODS:: Pharmacists completed the medication history portion of AWVs at a primary care, interdisciplinary clinic in Central Texas. Drug therapy problems were collected and compared to those identified by physicians conducting AWVs. Drug therapy problems were grouped into 4 categories: indication, effectiveness, safety, and adherence. Each category was divided into subcategories to further specify the problem.

RESULTS:: Fifty patients received an AWV in each group. Pharmacists identified more drug therapy problems in all 4 categories as compared to physicians (100 vs 20 interventions, respectively) and significant differences were detected in most subcategories: indication without medication ( P = .005), suboptimal regimen ( P = .0034), drug-drug interaction ( P = .0267), warning/precaution requiring additional monitoring ( P = .0267), nonadherence ( P = .0058), and patient lack of understanding medication therapy ( P = .005).

CONCLUSION:: Pharmacist involvement in AWVs helped identify drug therapy problems.