The Naylor’s Story
Caregiver Liz Naylor’s Experience with Perfecting Peds on the HealthPartners Portal
When Liz Naylor’s son Giacomo turned 2, she knew something was wrong with his health. After years of clinic visits, hospital stays, and tests, Liz learned that Giacomo had a rare inherited condition called myotonic dystrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disorder that affects nearly every organ system in the body, causing both physical and cognitive impairments with no known cure.
“Myotonic dystrophy is a complex condition that requires ongoing care, medications, and appointments,” says Liz, whose three other children also inherited the disease. “We don’t have the luxury of wasting time.”
So when Liz received a call about no-cost Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services available through her HealthPartners health plan, she was initially skeptical. “They caught me on a good day,” she recalls. “I told them, ‘You have 15 minutes to impress me.’”
And impress they did. The call was with Perfecting Peds, a specialized MTM service provider contracted by HealthPartners to support members with complex healthcare needs, particularly young children. Liz spoke with a clinical pharmacist who reviewed Giacomo’s health history, medications, and supplements.
The pharmacist recommended adjusting his medication regimen—decreasing doses of some drugs, stopping others designed for acute situations, and spacing out his daily steroid injection and magnesium supplement. It turned out that the magnesium was interfering with the steroid’s effectiveness because they were administered too closely together.
“The fewer medications, the better. There’s less chance of contraindications,” says Liz. She shared the MTM recommendations with Giacomo’s care team at another health system. “The one-on-one pharmacist support was a life preserver—it felt like we weren’t going behind our doctors’ backs because MTM is part of the healthcare system.”
Liz was so impressed with the service that she began using Perfecting Peds for her other children as well. After her family’s positive experiences, she even decided to work for the company.
The Value of Medication Therapy Management (MTM)
MTM is a valuable service for anyone who uses medications, helping ensure safety and effectiveness while reducing potential drug interactions. HealthPartners offers MTM services through a large network of pharmacists, in addition to collaborating with partners like Perfecting Peds to assist specific populations. Studies show that HealthPartners’ MTM services provide a 3:1 return on investment and contribute to improved health outcomes for members.
HealthPartners is committed to increasing awareness of this no-cost service. The company is reaching out to more than 30,000 higher-risk members to introduce them to MTM, a service that many people are unaware of but find invaluable once they experience it.
“The general public usually doesn’t know what MTM is. But once they try it, they love it,” Liz adds.
Perfecting Peds and MTM services play a crucial role in improving healthcare for families like Liz’s, making it easier to manage complex health conditions while ensuring safer, more effective medication use.