September 30, 2014 - Atlanta, GA - Curant Health, provider of enhanced medication therapy management and specialty pharmacy services, is launching a study with the Meyerhoff Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to “implement and evaluate the effectiveness of an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Medication Therapy Management (MTM) patient fulfillment model compared to standard care in a large university hospital setting.”
Project “A.L.I.V.E” (Adherence and Long-term IBD Value-added Effectiveness) was announced this morning during MedCity ENGAGE, a gathering of healthcare professionals in Bethesda, Md.
According to Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University Dr. Sharon Dudley-Brown, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic, debilitating conditions that can have important economic and clinical implications. In 2004, the annual cost of IBD in the United States was estimated at $1.84 billion. IBD is associated with high morbidity, loss of work productivity and impaired quality of life.
According to the study abstract, the absence of an integrated MTM platform in IBD care limits the ability to track and fully understand patient outcomes including Adverse Drug Events (ADE’s), hospital readmissions and long-term adherence rates. Systematic review of the literature validates there is no reported long term adherence data for CD or UC. Likewise, no data has been published evaluating the impact of MTM on IBD outcomes.
“Our enhanced medication therapy management services are proven to reduce readmissions rates and improve adherence to medication regimens for chronically ill patients, the most difficult and costly to treat,” says Patrick Dunham, President and CEO of Curant Health. “Continuing to validate our work alongside Dr. Dudley-Brown and her colleagues, and most importantly improving the lives of people suffering from chronic conditions like IBD, is central to our mission.”
During each MTM session with the patient, pharmacists will complete a medication reconciliation, identify any medication related issues, monitor therapy and provide patient education on the importance of adherence with treatment and provider follow-up, instructions on how to take/administer medications and side effects of medications.
The team will evaluate results at 30 days, 60 days, six months, nine months and 12 months from the initiation of the IBD MTM patient fulfillment model.
About Curant Health
Curant Health is a recognized leader in the field of enhanced medication therapy management, improving patients’ outcomes and lives while lowering the cost to treat chronic, high-expense conditions, including HIV, HCV, diabetes, hypertension and COPD. Twice recognized as one of America’s Fastest Growing Companies by Inc. Magazine, Curant was one of 10 finalists in Microsoft’s Excellence in Innovation competition for its development and deployment of its EMR system, MedPlan.
Health systems currently employing Curant’s services include University of New Mexico Truman Health Services, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Emory Midtown ID Clinics, University of Louisville Research Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University and others.
About Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a $6.7 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading health care systems in the United States. JHM unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System.