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News Brief | June 16, 2020
Practice Transformation Fernandopulle on Iora’s COVID response “The pandemic is an impetus to radically transform how the delivery system serves patients. We have the opportunity to not just survive, but thrive,” says Rushika Fernandopulle, co-founder and CEO of Iora Health. With that, he explains how Iora restructured itself to respond to COVID-19. The inspiration? Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Hackett’s model of working simultaneously in three time frames: Now, Near and Far. (Medium) NHS calls on multidisciplinary team to prioritize care…
News Brief | June 9, 2020
Practice Transformation EHRs and safety: mixed reviews Hospital EHR systems’ ability to detect harmful medication-ordering errors improved from 54% in 2009 to 66% in 2018, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. But that’s not the real takeaway. What is? The lack of consistency was the real lesson. The findings “suggest that although hospitals across the US have nearly universally adopted EHRs during the past two decades, the associations of these systems with safety are…
News Brief | June 2, 2020
Practice Transformation Telemedicine update: Patients like it, BCBS-TN adopting it According to a new Press Ganey survey, “virtual visits can achieve similar ratings for patient experience as in-person visits, with some specific differences in methods of care delivery.” The survey also indicates, however, opportunities to improve, including ease of scheduling appointments and contacting providers. In related news, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee announced it will permanently cover virtual visits with in-network providers, effective immediately. This includes member-to-provider and provider-to-provider consultations. (HealthLeaders Media-survey; HealthLeaders Media-BCBS)…
News Brief | May 26, 2020
Practice Transformation Listen: COVID-19 and telehealth pharmacy services COVID-19 has forced many ambulatory care clinics to turn to telehealth. A new podcast from GTMRx founding funder, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, explores the implementation and expansion of telehealth pharmacy services in two ambulatory care clinics. Speakers discuss the types of telehealth visits provided, the roadblocks encountered, lessons learned and reimbursement. (ASHP podcast) Drug shortages: The next COVID crisis Widespread critical-medication shortages are the next big crisis of the coronavirus…
News Brief | May 19, 2020
Practice Transformation Study: Pharmacist can support PGx Research published in the Journal of American College of Clinical Pharmacy supports the pharmacist’s role in facilitating pharmacogenomics (PGx). In 96% (n=24) of the patients in the study, pharmacists found genetic variants that could affect the safety and effectiveness of at least one drug a patient was taking. “The study confirmed the critical role to be played by pharmacists in facilitating the clinical usage of relevant genetic information to optimize drug therapy decisions as well…
News Brief | May 12, 2020
Practice Transformation Precision medicine, like MRI, a worthy investment “Precision medicine … already has the power to disrupt your practice,” writes Joel Diamond, MD, FAAFP. In Medical Economics, he discusses how practices can begin to incorporate genomics. It can be difficult to prove ROI right away, he warns, but that need not be a barrier to adoption. “No one questioned the value of MRI tests when they were introduced, but it still it took time to build a genuine ROI argument.…
News Brief | May 5, 2020
Practice Transformation Telehealth could ease financial strain on primary care Roughly 20% of primary care practices could close within weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted last month by the Primary Care Collaborative. The loss in revenue from non-urgent business has put dire strain on resources and operations. Physicians need to respond quickly to the changing environment, and some technology vendors are seizing the opportunity, reports Healthcare IT News, which offers a regularly updated comprehensive listing…
News brief | April 28, 2020
Practice Transformation Ethics: Genetic testing in oncology In the new era of precision medicine in cancer treatment, many clinicians use patient tumor genomic data as part of routine clinical practice. But what are the ethical considerations around testing? Achieving the goals of precision medicine requires appropriate counseling and support, personnel resources and deployment of relevant expertise. This 10-minute video lecture touches on the considerations, drawing on a recent piece in JAMA Oncology, coauthored by one of the presenters. (UroToday; JAMA Oncology) CVS…
News brief | April 21, 2020
Practice Transformation Some pharmacists to be paid to manage chronic disease UnitedHealthcare plans to pay pharmacists in Ohio to deliver primary care to Medicaid patients—in particular, to help patients better manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Keeping these populations healthy could lower health care costs and could free up hospital beds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ohio enacted a law in January 2019 that allows insurers to pay pharmacists as medical providers, but the state’s Department of…
News brief | April 14, 2020
Practice Transformation Delivering on the promise of personalized medicine The latest edition of the Personalized Medicine Coalition's Personalized Medicine in Brief includes a reprint of remarks from the GTMRx / Bipartisan Policy Center Feb 6 keynote address by Gregory Downing, D.O., PhD, (page 10-13) "Get the Medications Right: Innovations in Team-Based Care." He left listeners with the question, “Will we look back 10 years from now and say that we did the best we could to optimize the benefits of science for our patients?” That…
News brief | April 7, 2020
Practice Transformation Putting the pharmacist in pharmacogenomics By 2030, pharmacists will likely have little to do with dispensing and much more to do with clinical outcomes. One implication of this transformation is that pharmacists will need to take a very involved pharmacogenomics role with patients and providers, says Jaclyn Boyle, Pharm.D., MS, PhD, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Northeast Ohio Medical University. “Pharmacogenomics data can help inform decisions about whether a patient should try a medication, stay on it,…
News brief | March 31, 2020
Practice Transformation AMA offers guidance on supporting the care team The AMA has developed a list of practical strategies for health system leadership to consider as they try to support their care teams during COVID-19. The areas range from child and pet care to food delivery. Several relate to workforce distribution leveraging the skills of the entire team. For example: “Allow medical assistants and nurses to make contributions according to their ability, with physician or APP oversight and discretion.” (AMA)…
News brief | March 24, 2020
Practice Transformation Putting the pharmacist in pharmacogenomics By 2030, pharmacists will likely have little to do with dispensing and much more to do with clinical outcomes. One implication of this transformation is that pharmacists will need to take a very involved pharmacogenomics role with patients and providers, says Jaclyn Boyle, PharmD, MS, PhD, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Northeast Ohio Medical University. “Pharmacogenomics data can help inform decisions about whether a patient should try a medication, stay on it,…
News Brief | March 17, 2020
Practice Transformation Florida expands pharmacist scope of practice as coronavirus response escalates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that expands roles pharmacists and some nurses, allowing them to perform certain functions without physician supervision. HB 607 allows certain advanced practice nurses to provide primary care and practice independently of doctors. HB 389 allows pharmacists to test and treat patients for the flu and strep throat as well as treat chronic medical conditions. It also requires them to recommend patients follow-up with a…
News Brief | March 10, 2020
Practice Transformation Beyond MTM: de-prescribing More needs to be done to optimize medications for older patients, say representatives from the Lown Institute and Kaiser Permanente. They describe a “medication checkup” that focuses on de-prescribing. It has been shown to improve quality of life, reduce inappropriate medication use and reduce the risk of medication-related falls. But it takes work. “Making sure that clinicians—especially pharmacist—can bill for their time discussing medications with patients is key. Improving the usability and accuracy of [EHRs] and…
News Brief | March 3, 2020
Practice Transformation Another insurer caps certain drug costs Oscar Health is the latest insurer to cap some plan members’ out-of-pocket costs for life-saving insulin and other medications, a move several insurance companies have made in the last year amid pressure to reduce prescription drug costs. It announced its individual insurance plan members will pay $3 for a month’s supply of 100 commonly used drugs. In addition to diabetes, the list includes drugs to treat migraines, nausea, allergies and hypertension, among…
News Brief | February 25, 2020
Practice Transformation BCBS Tennessee mail-order plan draws ire A proposed BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee policy change could hurt patient access to critical drugs, eight medical societies warn in a letter to the insurer. The change would require physicians to use mail-order pharmacies to order drugs administered in-office, instead of allowing physician offices to bulk-order the drugs and keep them in-house. This, the societies say, could delay patient care, reduce access to much-needed drugs, inflate out-of-pocket costs and increase drug waste.…
News Brief | February 18, 2020
Practice Transformation Commentary: Let pharmacists do what they are trained to do Pharmacists have the training and expertise to help solve the overmedication problem, but reimbursement models work against them, say Don Downing of the Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice and Judith Garber of the Lown Institute. “This negative incentive to provide appropriate medication therapy drives up prescription costs and overuse of medication, putting patients at increased risk for harm.” In contrast, when Washington state required commercial insurers to recognize pharmacists as health…
News Brief | February 11, 2020
Practice Transformation Lown releases Medication Overload action plan Over the next decade, expect more than 4.5 million hospitalizations of older adults due to serious medication side effects, warns The Lown Institute. In response, it released Eliminating Medication Overload: A National Action Plan. A group of 22 experts, including patient advocates, physicians, nurses, pharmacists and researchers, developed the plan. It recommends five high-level action areas: implement prescription checkups; raise awareness among clinicians, policymakers and the public; improve information at the point of care; educate and…
News brief | February 4, 2020
Practice Transformation AI: The new stethoscope? Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD, of the Medical Futurist Institute, sees no contradiction between artificial intelligence and the art of medicine. In the Journal of Medical Internet Research, he writes, “While digital health technologies might be considered a threat to the art of medicine, I argue that advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, will initiate the real era of the art of medicine. …I believe that AI is going to be the stethoscope of the 21st…
