AMCP Suggests Ways Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans Can Better Communicate MTM Information to Beneficiaries

Alexandria, Va., May 4, 2020 – Sponsors of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans should have greater flexibility in the way they communicate official results of medication therapy management (MTM) programs with beneficiaries, AMCP suggests in an April 24 letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS).

AMCP’s comments are in response to a February 2020 CMS request for information on “Medication Therapy Management Improvements – Standardized Format.”

CMS aims to implement changes on Jan. 1, 2021 to the Standardized Format, which is a written summary of a comprehensive medication review (CMR) that Part D sponsors offer annually to targeted beneficiaries. Summaries must comply with CMS requirements and contain a cover letter, medication action plan (MAP), and personal medication list (PML).

“Flexibility in the presentation or delivery format of this material is limited only to supplemental information to the required paper version, stifling innovative approaches that Part D plans may wish to implement in order to more clearly and efficiently communicate this information to their enrollees,” AMCP argues in its letter.

Innovative approaches that could be taken include presenting information through more streamlined paper forms, emails, patient portals, text messages, mobile applications (apps) and other digital, electronic technologies.

“The lack of flexibility [also] prevents enrollees from being able to specify their preferred communication method, which may limit the usefulness of this information and result in the CMR service not providing the desired results,” AMCP says.

AMCP’s suggestions were informed by an AMCP-funded survey last year of Medicare beneficiaries who received a CMR. The survey sought to better understand beneficiary perceptions of the Standardized Format as a starting point to make it more useful. Survey results and recommendations were published in March 2019 in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy. According to the survey:

• 40-45% of respondents found the Standardized Format excellent or very good.
• 55.3% were in favor of integrating their medication summary into their medical record.
• 42.9% felt that an electronic version would be helpful.

Based on these findings, AMCP’s Medication Therapy Management Advisory Group developed a series of detailed recommendations to improve the readability and utility of the Standardized Format. Additional recommendations include changes to the documents’ format, required content, and layout of materials to make them more accessible and easier to understand. AMCP also supports CMS’s plan to rename the PML and MAP to “Medication List” and “Recommended To-Do list,” respectively. “These titles are more concise and more clearly state the purpose of each document,” AMCP says.