Preference on medication therapy management (MTM) service: Results from discrete choice experiment

Abstract

Objectives: To assess preference and estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for medication therapy management (MTM) service. Method: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted in general population. The five relevant MTM service attributes (service setting, service provider, length of service, frequency of follow up and service fee) were identified from literature reviews, face-to-face interview and survey. The DCE included 7 choice tasks composed of five attributes, two service profiles, and none option using a statistically efficient design. Six questionnaire sets were randomly assigned to 346 samples. The multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate preferences and WTP. Results: The totals of 265 questionnaires were included in the analysis. All five attributes had statistically significant impact on respondents’ utility of MTM service (p<0.05). MTM service at drugstore was preferred to home visit and services provided by the same pharmacist was preferred to any available pharmacist. Moreover shorter length of service and follow up with less frequency were preferred. The highest utility model was MTM service provided by the same pharmacist at the drugstore with 20 minutes length of service, 10 weeks follow up, and 150 baht service fee. Conclusions: MTM service was beneficial and valued by consumers. The WTP and attributes obtained from the study could be used to design pharmacy service benefit package to match with consumer needs and characteristics as well as the amount of reimbursement for pharmacy services.