Target Audience and Goal Statement

This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of managed care specialty pharmacists, pharmacy directors, clinical pharmacists, medical directors, and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee pharmacists and other managed healthcare professionals involved in the management of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Recent advances in the field of neuroimmunology are re-shaping the conceptualization of MS, with potential implications of new agents within the current landscape of treatment options. This symposium will examine the crucial role of managed care pharmacists in MS disease management programs, especially as new immune-directed agents emerge in the application of current evidence-based diagnoses, guidelines, and pharmacy-based managed care best practices in reducing the clinical and economic burdens related to this complex chronic disorder while optimizing patient outcomes.

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Discuss characteristics of current and emerging MS therapies, including mechanisms of action, dosage and administration, adverse effects, and drug interactions
2. Describe the immune-mediated mechanisms of MS that may serve as immune targets for therapeutic interventions
3. Explain the relationship between medication adherence and MS disease control, and potential strategies for overcoming barriers to adherence
4. Review how a pharmacy-based practice model fosters increased accessibility, convenience, patient confidence, and ultimately, improved patient outcomes by incorporating specialty medication management into transitions in care, admission and discharge quality indicators, readmissions, and other quality care measures
5. Illustrate how pharmacists, by serving as the regular point of contact, can encourage improved compliance, appropriate medication use, and provide ongoing safety monitoring, for quicker interventions