AMA opens dialogue with pharmacy organizations

The American Medical Association (AMA) has responded favorably to concerns expressed in April by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and six other pharmacy associations. AMA wants to sit down with APhA and representatives from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, and National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to discuss pharmacists’ activities in the areas of medication therapy management and collaborative drug-therapy management.

“This discussion with organized medicine is especially pertinent right now,” said Thomas E. Menighan, BPharm, MBA, ScD, executive vice president and CEO of APhA. “We’re discussing ways to collaborate with AMA for effective, patient-centered implementation of the health reform law. As physicians work with providers and other members of the healthcare team to organize accountable care organizations and enhance medical homes, the pharmacist is a critical part of the solution to many problems. Just as physicians and pharmacists work together at the local level each day, medical and pharmacy leaders must also work together at the national level.”

In the April letter, the pharmacy organizations asked AMA to revisit certain areas of its Scope of Practice Data Series document that had been provided to APhA for review. The collaborating organizations took a positive, constructive approach to assisting AMA in the characterization of contemporary pharmacy practice and the opportunities for collaboration, according to APhA.