Incorporating promotoras into Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services delivered in a rural Arizona border community

The Medication Management Center at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy (UAMMC) is a leader in providing innovative clinical pharmacy services – Medication Therapy Management (MTM) – nationwide.  MTM sessions include comprehensive medication reviews that address: safety concerns (i.e. drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions, duplicate therapy), gaps in care, adherence to medications, and cost savings opportunities.  Regular follow-up reviews ensure concerns are addressed and further complications are prevented.  UAMMC collaborated with five rural Arizona pharmacies (two community health centers and three independent retail pharmacies) to implement MTM. This program relied on: (1) existing relationships between the rural facility staff and patients and (2) UAMMC’s experience in providing MTM, and (3) existing relationships between UAMMC and rural sites. Project personnel met telephonically to build consensus on project goals, develop patient recruitment procedures, and develop strategies to facilitate site participation.  Interventions and recommendations were documented and collected and patient outcomes were measured for analysis at each participating site.  One participating site, San Luis Walk-In Clinic, a federally designated Rural Health Clinic in southwestern Arizona, utilizes community lay health workers (“promatoras”) for patient education and outreach.  At this site, promatora-patient dyads participated in all MTM reviews. Comparative analysis between this site and the others measured changes in biometric markers, medication adherence, rates of preventative care, percentage of provider acceptance to recommendations, and patient satisfaction.  This hybrid MTM model can improve patient care and health outcomes. Presenters will share successes, challenges, program evaluation results and future opportunities for incorporating promatoras into MTM services.