Practice Transformation
Walgreens plans to open hundreds of primary care clinics, thanks to a deal with VillageMD to staff and operate 500 to 700 clinics in 30 U.S. markets within five years. According to Walgreens, half the clinics will be in underserved areas. Each clinic will offer an array of services, including checkups and chronic disease care. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants and social workers will work out of some locations; telehealth options will also be available. (Washington Post)
Rates of EHR problem list completeness and duplication vary widely, and disease severity is a likely factor, according to research published in the Journal of Informatics in Health and Biomedicine. “The positive correlation between duplications and disease severity may be the result of… more systemic complications,” and that these patients likely have more providers. Providers “struggle more with maintaining complete problem lists for patients with less severe and less symptomatic disease likely because these patients have fewer providers and fewer visits—both of which limit the opportunities to maintain the problem list.” (Becker’s Hospital Review; Journal of Informatics in Health and Biomedicine)
Evidence & Innovation
Care received in ACO and PCMH models was associated with slightly lower health care costs than standard care, according to research published in the American Journal of Managed Care, based on 2016 data. The study also found that these models were associated with greater reduction in health care costs compared with hybrid models—a surprising finding, according to researchers. Their conclusion: “Integrating innovations in health care delivery and health care reimbursement warrants further evaluation.” (AJMC)
CVS Pharmacy has developed Spoken Rx, a new feature of the CVS Pharmacy app that can read a specific type of label for low-vision patients. By the end of 2020, 1,500 CVS Pharmacy locations will be equipped to affix special RFID labels to prescription vials. When the labels are scanned by Spoken Rx in the CVS Pharmacy app, which can be accessed by users using Siri or Google Assistant on their phones, prescription label information will be spoken out loud. (Drugstore News; announcement)
Policy Solutions
FDA may not turn to challenge trials for COVID-19 vaccine development, says Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Intentionally infecting people with the coronavirus to see whether vaccines work could represent “ethical heartburn” because there’s still no easy way to treat the potentially severe disease. He didn’t completely rule it out, however. (Politico)
Despite plans by the administration and lawmakers to control costs, pharmaceutical companies have raised the price of hundreds of medicines during the pandemic, according to GoodRx, which tracks prices consumers pay at pharmacies—but not physician-administered medicines. “Business as usual is a problem in a pandemic. These price increases contribute nothing to innovation, but greatly to suffering. These aren’t new drugs,” Peter Maybarduk, director of the Global Access to Medicines Program at Public Citizen, tells Politico. (Politico; GoodRx)
In Case You Missed It!
GTMRx workgroup update: Payment and Policy Solutions Workgroup
The Payment and Policy Solutions Workgroup is in the process of creating two new subgroups: the Payment Methodologies Subgroup, who will develop a robust, comprehensive payment model proposal to be submitted for potential pilot or alternative payment model designation to public/private insurers and policy makers, and the Telehealth Delivery of CMM Subgroup, who will provide a value framework to address successes and barriers to telehealth delivery and support the expansion of CMM in telehealth.
GTMRx Blog | CMM: It’s time to pay attention
By Liz Fowler, Executive Vice President of Programs for The Commonwealth Fund
Think about all the time we’ve spent on drug pricing and all the energy we’ve put into trying to control spending on medications in this country. Many of us have been looking for policies and approaches to deliver the right therapy to the right patient at the right time.
Comprehensive medication management (CMM) is a solution that’s been right under our noses.
By ensuring appropriate use of medications, including gene therapies and personalized medicine, we have the potential to address many of the issues that policymakers have been grappling with for decades.
Read this excerpt from our upcoming Blueprint for Change here.
GTMRx Blog | Yet Another Reason to Get the Medications Right
By Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy
Add to the long list of reasons to “get the medications right” the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s clear that the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will include an arsenal of therapies to combat the virus and its devastating effects on the body. This reality affords a clear rationale for comprehensive medication management, perhaps as never before to the same degree.
Read this excerpt from our upcoming Blueprint for Change here.
Register for our upcoming webinar!
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | 1- 2 p.m. EDT
Optimal patient care cannot happen without a systematic approach to medication use and that will require significant structural changes. This webinar will give insight into making the case for medication management reform and focus primarily on practice and care delivery to outline how providers can enhance the patient experience, improve population health, reduce costs and bring back the joy in practicing.
Join our speakers as they offer an overview of actions that providers can take in their practice in order to assist in the implementation of comprehensive medication management.
- Paul Grundy, M.D., MPH, FACOEM, FACPM, chief transformation officer of Innovaccer and president of the GTMRx Institute;
- Todd Sorensen, Pharm.D., FAPhA, FCCP, associate dean for strategic initiatives and innovations, Department of Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems at the University of Minnesota; and
- Kylee Funk, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate professor, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy,
GTMRx Issue Brief | Pharmacogenomics in real life: From COVID-19 to depression, PGx testing is proving itself in practice
Featuring the voices of Emily J. Cicali, Pharm.D., BCPS, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Florida, College of Pharmacy and Colleen Keenan, Consultant, Advisory Board.
Advances in pharmacogenomics (PGx)—and our enhanced understanding of the individual variability of drug response—will transform our approach to the treatment of disease. PGx testing may be no silver bullet, but as a diagnostic tool used in conjunction with a process of care like CMM, it can significantly inform medication therapy management services and our approach to the treatment of disease. The current trial-and-error method will one day give way to personalized, targeted medication use.
One day. For now, the challenge is translating diagnostic discovery at the bench into management of care at the bedside.
Read here.
Hosted by the GTMRx Institute’s executive director and co-founder, Katherine H. Capps, Voices of Change features leaders who have knowledge, experience and ideas to solve this urgent need to get the medications right. The most recent episode features Amanda Brummel, PharmD, BCACP, vice president, Clinical Ambulatory Pharmacy Services Fairview Pharmacy Services. Past guests include Orsula V. Knowlton, PharmD, MBA, president and chief marketing & new business development officer of Tabula Rasa HealthCare, Inc., Anand Parekh, MD, chief medical advisor, Bipartisan Policy Center and GTMRx President Paul Grundy, MD, chief transformation officer, Innovaccer. Listen here.
By Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy
Add to the long list of reasons to “get the medications right” the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s clear that the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus will include an arsenal of therapies to combat the virus and its devastating effects on the body. This reality affords a clear rationale for comprehensive medication management, perhaps as never before to the same degree.
Read this excerpt from our upcoming Blueprint for Change here.
Register for our upcoming webinar!
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | 1- 2 p.m. EDT
Optimal patient care cannot happen without a systematic approach to medication use and that will require significant structural changes. This webinar will give insight into making the case for medication management reform and focus primarily on practice and care delivery to outline how providers can enhance the patient experience, improve population health, reduce costs and bring back the joy in practicing.
Join our speakers as they offer an overview of actions that providers can take in their practice in order to assist in the implementation of comprehensive medication management.
- Paul Grundy, M.D., MPH, FACOEM, FACPM, chief transformation officer of Innovaccer and president of the GTMRx Institute;
- Todd Sorensen, Pharm.D., FAPhA, FCCP, associate dean for strategic initiatives and innovations, Department of Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems at the University of Minnesota; and
- Kylee Funk, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate professor, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy,
Hosted by the GTMRx Institute’s executive director and co-founder, Katherine H. Capps, Voices of Change features leaders who have knowledge, experience and ideas to solve this urgent need to get the medications right. The most recent episode features Amanda Brummel, PharmD, BCACP, vice president, Clinical Ambulatory Pharmacy Services Fairview Pharmacy Services. Past guests include Orsula V. Knowlton, PharmD, MBA, president and chief marketing & new business development officer of Tabula Rasa HealthCare, Inc., Anand Parekh, MD, chief medical advisor, Bipartisan Policy Center and GTMRx President Paul Grundy, MD, chief transformation officer, Innovaccer. Listen here.
