Alabama legislators discuss collaborative drug therapy management

The Alabama legislature is seeking to have the state codify collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM)  as part of pharmacy practice.
"We're hopeful that we're going to . . . get it implemented this year," Brad Wright, associate clinical professor at Auburn University and past president of the Alabama Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), said in a statement.
As it stands, Alabama law does not mention the CDTM, yet many pharmacists in the state work with physicians to provide services related to CDTM. By making a law regarding CDTM, the state would be able to regulate the way pharmacists provide the service, which would in turn improve patient care.
"Pharmacists in the state of Alabama recognize that there are challenges to patient care," Wright said. "We want to collaborate with other health care providers, and we want to improve access to care for patients, and certainly we want to optimize care for patients in the state."
According to Nicholas Gentile, ASHP’s director of state legislative affairs, only Alabama, Delaware and South Carolina have yet to establish a CDTM authority for pharmacists via state law.