Collaborative Drug Therapy Management, usually shortened to CDTM, describes a regulatory structure that authorizes a pharmacist to take an active role in adjusting, monitoring, or continuing a patient’s drug therapy under terms set out with a supervising or collaborating prescriber. It is not a single fixed set of activities — each state board of pharmacy defines what CDTM can cover, what documentation it requires, and how much prescriber oversight remains in place.
CDTM sits at the center of the broader shift toward expanded pharmacist practice authority. Instead of pharmacists working strictly within the four corners of an individual prescription, CDTM programs let them participate more directly in ongoing care decisions, always within a framework the collaborating provider and the state board have agreed to and authorized in advance.
Why it matters
Pharmacists encounter CDTM most often through their employer’s clinical services, a health system’s ambulatory care program, or when they’re deciding whether to pursue additional credentialing that a CDTM role might require. Because the legal basis for CDTM varies so much by state — some states have detailed CDTM statutes, others fold similar authority into collaborative practice agreement rules — it’s a term that only makes sense in the context of a specific state’s regulatory scheme.
This entry describes the concept only, not any particular state’s rules or any clinical protocol. RxByState tracks how each state defines and limits CDTM authority; see the state-specific compliance data at https://app.rxbystate.com/signup.