Delivering Medication Therapy Management Services through Telepharmacy to Serve Remote Rural Communities.

One of the greatest challenges of our modern economy is sustaining the vitality of our rural communities. This sustainability is, and will continue to be, challenged by the increasing demands of an aging population for healthcare access. Pharmacists are poised to play a crucial role in rural healthcare access as these forces evolve. Effective January 2006, the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit offers their beneficiaries improved access to prescription medications. As part of the program, pharmacists are also required to implement Medication Therapy Management (MTM). The MTM program has tremendous potential for rural health, since it not only provides an economic incentive for pharmacists to continue operating in rural areas, but also provides the type of health care that is desperately needed in rural communities. Currently the pharmacy industry is struggling to find effective and affordable means of delivering these services. Meanwhile the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project has developed a proven network amongst smaller rural pharmacies and hospitals for the delivery of pharmacy services to several of the remote rural areas of North Dakota, thus forming an opportunity to extend the scope of rural health services by combining these two initiatives. The intent of this research is to investigate if the already proven concept of Telepharmacy may provide an economically feasible and essential delivery technology for Medication Therapy Management to remote rural residents.