Dickinson, N.D. – Custom Data, Inc. has been awarded $80,000 in a phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The grant focuses on researching the delivery of medication therapy management (MTM) services through the use of telepharmacy. The research will be led by Principal Investigator Ryan Jilek, president of Custom Data, Inc.

“Custom Data, Inc. began creating and implementing telepharmacy technology for the North Dakota Telepharmacy Project in 2002,” said Jilek.  Meanwhile, access to medication therapy management services has been a growing concern for many Americans.  According to Jilek, “support from the grant will provide an important step to build on our proven telepharmacy technology to provide an essential service to areas currently struggling in offering MTM services.”

Medication Therapy Management services are professional services provided by a pharmacist to help maximize their patients’ therapeutic results.  These services often include patient health assessments, creating a medication treatment plan, patient health monitoring and medication reviews.  Evidence shows MTM reduces the use of unnecessary physician and hospital services by reducing adverse health events and in the end total health costs.

Research under this grant will be conducted with pharmacies across North Dakota to determine a model for the delivery of MTM services to remote pharmacies. Providing consulting services to Custom Data, Inc. will be Dr. Daniel Friesner from the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Sciences at North Dakota State University, Dr. Mark Schroeder from the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at North Dakota State University and Howard Anderson, executive director of the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy.

For more information, contact Ryan Jilek with Custom Data, Inc. at 701.483.3036 or at jilek@customdata.com.