Memphis Daily News: UTHSC Professor Awarded Grant for Disparity Research
Dr. Junling Wang, associate professor of Health Outcomes and Policy Research in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, has received a $886,742 grant from the National Institute on Aging, a subsidiary of the National Institutes of Health.
Wang will use the award to further her study on medication therapy management and its effects on racial and ethnic disparities. The award will be funded over a three-year period for a study titled “Health Implications of MTM Eligibility Criteria.”
The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act – implemented in 2006 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – requires prescription-drug plans for Medicare beneficiaries to establish MTM programs with a purpose to “optimize therapeutic outcomes by improving medication use and reducing adverse events.” However, Wang and her team’s recently published analyses of historical data demonstrate that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to be eligible for MTM.