BACKGROUND: While there is growing demand for information about comparative effectiveness (CE), there is substantial debate about whether and when observational studies have sufficient quality to support decision making.

BACKGROUND: One of the most important and often overlooked challenges for accountable care organizations (ACOs) is ensuring the optimal use of pharmaceuticals, which can be accomplished by utilizing pharmacists' skillsets and leveraging their full clinical expertise. Developing capabilities that support, monitor, and ensure appropriate medication use, efficacy, and safety is critical to achieving optimal patient outcomes and, ultimately, to an ACO's success. The program described in this article highlights the best practices of Fairview Pharmacy Services' Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program with additional thoughts and considerations on this and similar MTM programs provided by The Working Group on Optimizing Medication Therapy in Value-Based Healthcare.

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No outside funding supported this project. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The authors are members of the Working Group on Optimizing Medication Therapy in Value-Based Healthcare. Odgen is employed by Cornerstone Health Care; Brenner is employed by Summit Medical Group; and Penso is employed by American Medical Group Association. Lustig, Westrich, and Dubois are employed by the National Pharmaceutical Council, an industry-funded health policy research organization that is not involved in lobbying or advocacy. Study concept and design were contributed by Lustig, Penso, Westrich, and Dubois. Lustig, Ogden, Brenner, and Penso collected the data, and data interpretation was performed by all authors. The manuscript was written primarily by Lustig, along with the other authors, and revised by Lustig, Penso, Westrich, and Dubois, assisted by Ogden and Brenner.

This research was sponsored and funded by the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), an industry funded health policy research group that is not involved in lobbying or advocacy. Employees of the sponsor contributed to the research questions, determination of the relevance of the research questions, and the research design. Specifically, there was involvement in the survey and interview instruments. They also contributed to some data interpretation and revision of the manuscript. Leavitt Partners was hired by NPC to conduct research for this study and also serves a number of health care clients, including life sciences companies, provider organizations, accountable care organizations, and payers. Westrich and Dubois are employed by the NPC. Wilks, Krisle, Lunner, and Muhlestein are employed by Leavitt Partners and did not receive separate compensation. Study concept and design were contributed by Krisle, Dubois, and Muhlestein, along with Lunner and Westrich. Krisle and Muhlestein collected the data, and data interpretation was performed by Wilks, Krisle, Muhlestein, along with Dubois and Westrich. The manuscript was written primarily by Wilks, along with Krisle and Muhlestein, and revised by Wilks, Westrich, Lunner, and Krisle. Preliminary versions of this work were presented at the following: National Council for Prescription Drug Programs Educational Summit, November 1, 2016; Academy Health 2016 Annual Research Meeting, June 27, 2016; Accountable Care Learning Collaborative Webinar, June 16, 2016; the 21st Annual PBMI Drug Benefit Conference, February 29, 2016; National Value-Based Payment and Pay for Performance Summit, February 17, 2016; National Accountable Care Congress, November 17, 2015; and American Journal of Managed Care's ACO Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, Fall 2015 Live Meeting, October 15, 2015.