Practice Transformation
“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)
In the U.K., at the behest of the National Health Service, pharmacy teams will “support the clinical review” of patients in nursing and residential care homes (similar to assisted-living facilities and nursing homes in the U.S.). The operational model calls on pharmacists, among other things, to work with multidisciplinary teams to prioritize care for patients. “It’s important that we put in practical, proactive support around medicines—and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel; we can use existing structures,” says Graham Stretch, chief pharmacist at the Argyle Health Group, who helped develop the model. (Pharmaceutical Journal)
Evidence & Innovation
A 3D facial imaging may help clinicians diagnose genetic syndromes, according to research published in Genetics in Medicine. Researchers created a library of 3D facial images of children and adults with 396 different genetic syndromes. They also included images of their unaffected relatives and other unaffected individuals from the US, Canada and the UK. They then used a database to train a machine-learning algorithm to identify most genetic syndromes included in the dataset. Based on facial shape, 96% of study subjects could be correctly classified as either unaffected or having a syndrome. (Becker’s Health)
In this episode of the Talk to Your Pharmacist podcast, GTMRx President Paul Grundy, MD, MPH, talks to host Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA, about the importance of the clinical pharmacist on to the multidisciplinary care team. He shares some of the research demonstrating how this improves outcomes and lowers costs, drawing on models from around the US and overseas. He wraps up by sharing the genesis of GTMRx and the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach. (Talk to Your Pharmacist)
Policy Solutions
CMS’s Seema Verma is bullish on expanded access to telemedicine. “I can’t imagine going back,” she tells STAT. “People recognize the value of this, so it seems like it would not be a good thing to force our beneficiaries to go back to in-person visits.” She acknowledged that congressional action will be required in many areas but said CMS is looking for ways it can permanently broaden telemedicine access. However, she also said the government must evaluate whether it should continue paying the same for virtual visits as for in-person care. (STAT News)
The bipartisan Exposure Notification Privacy, intended to safeguard patient data in COVID-19 apps, requires public health officials to be involved with any exposure-notification systems, mandates user consent and allows users to request the deletion of their data at any time. It also bars commercial use of the data. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told Healthcare IT News, that when it comes to the security of contact-tracing apps, “We’re relying on Google and Apple to establish standards.” The bill is one of several in the works intended to safeguard health data in digital-monitoring technology. (Healthcare IT News)
In Case You Missed It!
GTMRx PGx Taskforce update
David Hill, MBA, chief financial officer at CQuentia, presented to the Pharmacogenomics (PGx) Payment and Policy Taskforce on Tuesday, June 9. Hill discussed the following topics: payment and reimbursement issues encountered as the chief financial officer at CQuentia, barriers to PGx adoption and ideas on providing better access for patients and providers to PGx testing and reporting.
Did you miss our June 9 webinar?
Hear from a clinical pharmacist and a research consultant as they discuss findings from two separate research studies on pharmacogenomics. Colleen Keenan, a consultant with The Advisory Board’s Clinical Innovators Council and Emily J. Cicali, Pharm.D., BCPS, clinical associate professor at the University of Florida, College of Pharmacy, shares highlights from her recent PCORI-funded publication.
Remarks from the GTMRx / Bipartisan Policy Center Feb 6 keynote address by Gregory Downing, D.O.,(page 10-13) “Get the Medications Right: Innovations in Team-Based Care,” in the latest edition of the Personalized Medicine Coalition’s Personalized Medicine in Brief. Read it 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 Orsula V. Knowlton, PharmD, MBA, president and chief marketing & new business development officer of Tabula Rasa HealthCare, Inc. Past guests include Anand Parekh, MD, chief medical advisor, Bipartisan Policy Center and GTMRx President Paul Grundy, MD, chief transformation officer, Innovaccer. Listen here.
