Call to action for a coordinated, team-based, systematic approach to medication use unites clinicians, advocates, diagnostics, health and tech industries
WASHINGTON, DC – Feb. 6, 2020 –The Get the Medications Right Institute (GTMRx) is issuing a call to action for health care stakeholders to optimize medication use as a way to save lives and save money when it convenes a stellar panel of health care policy leaders in Washington, D.C. at a livestreamed public event at the Bipartisan Policy Center today from 8:30-10:30 a.m. After the public event, leaders from academia, industry, government and care delivery will roll up their sleeves to develop a blueprint for change that GTMRx, with its 750 members, leaders and other partner organizations across the public and private sector, will implement to fundamentally shift the nation’s approach to medication use.
Suboptimal use of medications—prescription drugs that make people sicker, are wrong or are not taken as intended—costs 275,000 lives and adds $528 billion across the health care system each year. As concerns about prescription drug costs dominate the national health care debate, real-world evidence points to a solution: Enhance health and drive down costs through coordinated, team-based, patient-centered care models that leverage technology and diagnostics breakthroughs and engage medication experts.
“Fixing the current trial-and-error approach to medication use is probably the single largest and most achievable thing we can do to improve health, lower costs and enable each member of the care team to focus on what they do best,” said Katherine H. Capps, co-founder and executive director of GTMRx. “With more than 10,000 medications available on the market, we simply can’t continue to provide care the way that we have been. The time has come to scale what we know works to get the medications right.”
The event, “Get the Medications Right: Innovations in Team-Based Care,” will include two keynote presentations by The Commonwealth Fund’s Elizabeth Fowler and Gregory Downing of Innovation Horizons and Health Datapalooza, who will offer important context to the challenges and opportunities surrounding optimized medication use in today’s health care system. Following the keynotes, Susan Dentzer with the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy will moderate a discussion to showcase proven strategies at work today across health care settings. Panelists include: the Veterans Health Administration’s Carolyn Clancy, MD, deputy under secretary for discovery, education and affiliate networks; Jerry Greskovic, RPh, CACP, CDE, system director of Ambulatory Pharmacy Programs, Enterprise Pharmacy at Geisinger; and, Daniel Rehrauer, PharmD, senior manager, Medication Therapy Management Program at HealthPartners.
“Trailblazers like the VA, Geisinger and HealthPartners have experience and evidence demonstrating how coordinated, team-based, patient-centered care models that integrate medication experts from day one significantly reduce needless suffering and cost,” Capps said. “Because of their leadership, we have a roadmap to achieve delivery system transformation. Our role is to broadly disseminate evidence, provide a platform for change and create the sustainable energy needed to overcome practice, payment and policy barriers.”
