AMCP Foundation symposium creates prevention strategies for chronic diseases

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Foundation released a report Dec. 23, summarizing the highlights of its Fifth Annual Symposium that addressed chronic disease in the United States.

Chronic disease is prevalent in the nation as approximately 50 percent of American adults have at least one chronic disease, such as diabetes or heart disease. The high rate of disease in the United States presents significant challenges to prevention and treatment given that seven out of 10 deaths are caused by chronic diseases and half of the medications prescribed for the diseases are not properly taken by patients.

The symposium "Opportunities & Challenges: Patient Care, Prevention and Adherence" was held during the AMCP 2015 Nexus meeting toward the end of October. Discussed topics included the importance of collaboration in managed care plans, the role medication therapy management (MTM) plays in the coordination of care, using predictive analytics to identify at-risk populations for certain chronic diseases, what to do about medication non-adherence, how technology can be used for patient monitoring and how proper chronic disease management can reduce health care system costs.

"The ideas and recommendations that come out of this event will result in tangible strategies, programs and actions that will help improve the quality of health care delivery and patient outcomes," AMCP CEO and AMCP Foundation Chair Edith Rosato said.