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(HealthNewsDigest.com)-Do you take more than one medication? Are you unsure if your vitamins and herbal products are interacting with your prescription drugs? Does the variety of nonprescription medicines available make your selection process more confusing? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you are not alone. According to the American Pharmacists Association, the improper use of medications jeopardizes the health of millions of Americans and costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars every year.
Pharmacists are medication experts with many years of advanced training. They can advise you about taking prescription and nonprescription medications to ensure that maximum health benefits are received. Pharmacists can provide you with a thorough medication checkup service called medication therapy management, or MTM.
A medication checkup is much more than having your questions answered when you pick up a prescription. During this checkup, your pharmacist will meet with you one on one by appointment and review all your prescription and nonprescription medications, any herbal products, as well as your vitamins. Some pharmacists may also provide services to assist with managing chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. Many also provide coaching to help patients stop smoking and make healthy lifestyle choices.
Because these services are new, you may not have seen a pharmacist providing MTM. However, you can certainly appreciate the opportunity to obtain a personalized medication list, one-on-one attention to discuss your medications, and access to a medication expert who will call your doctor and work out problems on your behalf.
Medication checkups may provide real benefits. Studies have found that people who meet with their pharmacists to manage their medications have lower health care costs, fewer hospitalizations, fewer problems caused by medications and better management of health conditions such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
If this is the kind of care you would like to see for yourself and in your community, talk with your pharmacist. And if you’ve experienced care from your pharmacists or think this is something that will benefit other people in your life, call or write to your congressional representatives and encourage them to include pharmacy services in our health care system.
More information about MTM services is available on the American Pharmacists Association’s Web site at www.pharmacist.com/brochure/medicationcheckup.
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