Practice Transformation
Opportunities abound for pharmacist collaboration
Opportunities for collaboration between community and health-systems pharmacists abound, according to Tamara A. McCants, PharmD, of Howard University, During her APhA 2022 presentation, she cited several examples, including comprehensive medication management. She also talked about challenges in collaboration. Turf battles, “finger pointing as to who should have done what, and why they didn’t, and ‘we need to do this,’ and ‘we’re better at that,’” can be a bit problematic. “That is not the environment for collaboration.” She also cited reimbursement: Successful collaboration requires “a real conversation about who is going to pay…and what the payment mechanisms are.” (Drug Topics)
To advance pharmacist integration, find and fix the pain points
In this video, Darren Mensch, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, clinical ambulatory care pharmacist of population health at Jefferson Health, describes the role pharmacists play in team-based care, population health management and value-based care. Two questions are critical for the pharmacist to ask: “What are the pain points of the practice or the health system, and what can we do to help?” It’s about relationship building “with the leadership team, the providers, staff, patients to kind of see what what’s going on and how can we help. And [with] the clinical administrative champion, I can’t emphasize that enough …” (Pharmacy Times)
Evidence & Innovation
Seniors keep getting inappropriate drugs
At least 20% of community-dwelling adults 65 or older are prescribed potentially inappropriate medications, according to a Today’s Geriatric Medicine article coauthored by Richard Baron, MD, president and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine. The two most important drivers are gaps in knowledge, coupled with a lack of awareness of safer alternatives. EHR alerts alone aren’t the solution. “As it turns out, these system interventions need to be accompanied by physician education to be effective, such as one-on-one counseling with a clinical pharmacist or geriatrics specialist.” (Today’s Geriatric Medicine)
HIMSS participants connect interoperability, value-based care
Interoperability has been an elusive goal for years, but the transition to value-based care increased the demand for open data exchange. For better outcomes, providers need access to a patient’s complete medical history, executives told Fierce Healthcare at a recent HIMSS conference. “When I see a patient, I’m trying to put this puzzle together. The more jigsaw pieces I can put together, the closer I can get to a diagnosis,” said Shayan Vyas, MD of Teladoc. It’s how we arrive at whole person care. Providers need data aggregated across multiple sources to create a holistic view of the patient, agreed Bhaskar Sambasivan, CEO of CitiusTech. (Fierce Healthcare)
Policy Solutions
Medicare adds new chronic care codes
This year, Medicare added four new CPT codes for principal care management (PCM). PCM is similar to chronic care management (CCM) but requires that patients have only one complex chronic condition (vs. three or more for CCM). Experts say the new codes give physicians opportunity to improve outcomes while generating additional revenue, Medical Economics reports. The article features a table outlining the codes, the description and the payment. It also includes a list of PCM criteria. (Medical Economics)
Let patients know their opinion matters
Research shows that doctors are twice as likely to make recommendations without asking patients what they want; other studies indicate doctors frequently get it wrong, writes Karen Sepucha, PhD. “Some might argue patients can challenge doctor recommendations, but patients are often scared to do so. We are conditioned to believe the doctor knows best,” she writes. “The right solution is the one that best achieves a patient’s objectives, which requires their input.” (Kevin MD)
In Case You Missed It!
GTMRx Workgroup Updates
- The GTMRx National Physician Advisory Taskforce is having two presentations today, March 29,2022 from 2:00-3:00pm EST. The first presentation is with Shawn McFarland, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCACP, Manager for the National Clinical Pharmacy Practice Program and the clinical practice integration and model advancement for the Clinical Pharmacy Practice Office of the PBM Services at Veterans Health Administration on the VHA Clinical Pharmacy Practice: Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) Standardization. The second presentation is with Steve Chen, Pharm.D., MHS, Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs, USC School of Pharmacy; Distinguished Fellow, GTMRx and Michael Hochman, MD, MPH, CEO, Healthcare in Action, SCAN group on Value-based Strategies: A Better Way to Manage Medications. Dr. Chen and Dr. Hochman previously presented at Health Care Value Week in January 2022.
- The GTMRx Health IT to Support Optimized Medication Use Workgroup had a presentation on March 15, 2022 from 11:30-12:30pm EST with Farah Madhat, Pharm.D., MA, Chief Product Officer, Tabula Rasa HealthCare about the role that community pharmacies can play in comprehensive medication management (CMM). She discussed topics such as how community pharmacies use their available data to engage patients, ways they schedule CMM appointments with their patients, how they form their clinical relationships, and barriers (both pre and post pandemic) to implement CMM.
GTMRx Experts Reveal Health Care Must-Haves for 2022 and Beyond
Leading Institute for Comprehensive Medication Management Shares Strategies for Improving Inefficiencies in Health Care and Reforming Medication Management
“Collaborative practice agreements, using clinical pharmacists, who are right there in the community and know the patients. And specifically with homeless patients, I think there does need to be a little more outreach, the clinical pharmacist going out, through collaborative practice agreements, and seeing patients, and helping us manage their complex needs.. And because it is of course, a little challenging to expect homeless patients to visit clinics. But I’ll say this, they’re much more likely to respond if you meet them in the community rather than a traditional medical office practice.” – Michael Hochman, MD primary care physician and CEO of Healthcare in Action, SCAN’s Homeless Medical Group
Read more in our press release.
GTMRx in the News
While the health care industry reevaluates processes and care from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, patient experience optimization has arguably never been more of a priority for the health community at-large. A big part of optimizing the experience includes paying attention to and changing how medications are selected, managed and monitored to avoid misuse, overuse or underuse.
Read more from GTMRx Executive Director, Katie Capps, in Healthcare Business Today.
The Right Drug Dose Now Act Introduced Feb. 28, 2022
On February 28, 2022, the GTMRx Institute issued a letter of support for the Right Drug Dose Now Act which was introduced on the same day. (See the press release from Congressman Swalwell here.)
GTMRx’s Precision Medicine Enablement via Advanced Diagnostics Workgroup invited congressional staff from the Personalized Medicine Caucus to present on draft PGx legislation underway on two occasions. The Personalized Medicine Caucus, co-chaired by Representatives Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), engages members in a constructive dialogue about legislative and regulatory policies that can help realize the full potential of personalized medicine. The recommendations that came out of these discussions were put into our Letter to the Personalized Medicine Caucus Co-Chairs—Representatives Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA)—on the Right Drug Dose Now Act.
Some of the GTMRx recommendations to the Caucus included:
- Incorporating comprehensive medication management definition and language.
- Combining PGx testing with the CMM process of care.
- Expanding implementation of EHR guidelines, education awareness campaigns, and reporting.
- Clarifying the definition of adverse drug events.
New Podcast Episode: Jessica Lea, PharmD
Host Katherine H. Capps talks to Tria Health CEO, Jessica Lea. As a trained pharmacist, she brings 20 years of knowledge and expertise in managed care and pharmacy benefits and is an advocate for the pharmacists’ role in improving outcomes. Her background in academia and numerous pharmacy achievements continue to fuel her passion of providing patient-centered care that results in optimal health outcomes.
In the episode, she offers guidance to employers as health plan sponsors to develop a “Buy Right Strategy”—an educational outreach program to educate employers about a new process of care to ensure medication are safe, effective and appropriate for their employees.
A Comprehensive Overview of the Institute, It’s Vision, Mission and Leadership
The Get the Medications Right Institute is working to decrease misuse, overuse and underuse of medications and avoid waste by advancing comprehensive medication management to ensure appropriate and personalized use of medications and gene therapies. Learn more in this brochure.
Interested in supporting our work?
Please contact Jeff Hanson (e: [email protected])
Join us to be part of meaningful change
Irma, like many others, struggles as a result of our current trial-and-error approach to medication. That is why we advocate for a new, comprehensive approach to medication use and prescribing. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organization, the GTMRx Institute and Foundation relies on funding from our supporting members. We ask that you consider becoming a Supporting Signing Member so we can continue to provide relevant, timely resources to get the medications right!
If you’re interested in supporting the Institute or Foundation at a higher level, please contact us. Your dollars will bring about meaningful change for people like Irma.
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Adding the foundation on AmazonSmile will help us continue to provide no cost educational webinars, issue briefs, weekly news briefs and promote the need for transformation of our current system of medication use through social media campaigns.
