Sept. 17 : For the first time, health plans, disease management, case management and pharmacy benefit management organizations can seek the seal of approval from one of the nation’s leading independent accrediting organizations for drug therapy management services.

Drug therapy management (DTM) is a distinct service or group of services that optimize therapeutic outcomes for individual consumers as a result of appropriate drug therapy. While it is often offered by organizations offering broader prescription benefit management services, it is a specialty service and can be offered by care management organizations as well.

URAC, the Washington, D.C.-based independent accreditor of health care management organizations, announced today the availability of its Drug Therapy Management Accreditation program for the commercial market. The announcement is the culmination of more than a year of standards development and testing associated with the concurrent development of its Prescription Benefit Management Accreditation program. The development process engaged all major stakeholder groups, including providers, health care organizations, insurers, and consumers as well as a field team of expert reviewers in the standards development and standards review process.

URAC’s DTM Accreditation standards are designed to help organizations drive appropriate therapeutic outcomes for consumers with a clear focus on patient safety, outcomes measurement and quality improvement. They address a broad range of functions, such as development of clinical policies using evidence-based medicine; patient communication regarding medication use; and promoting consumer rights, shared decision making and education.

“DTM is an emerging technique, and the standards provide a roadmap of what appropriate design and operations of a DTM program should be,” said Alan P. Spielman, URAC’s president and chief executive officer. “Establishing a DTM Accreditation distinct from our Pharmacy Benefit Management Accreditation program will allow us to ensure quality not only among pharmacy benefit management organizations that offer this service, but extend the reach to case management, disease management and pharmacy organizations which are interested in exploring more sophisticated ways to manage medication and incorporate DTM into their care management programs.”