Practice Transformation
Ads: direct consumer to prescriber
It’s not only patients and providers who benefit from online prescribing; so do a growing number of drug companies. They connect people scrolling their sites with a virtual prescriber. This “powerful mashup” of telehealth and DTC advertising worries policy experts, who fear that gaps in regulatory oversight leave patients vulnerable, STAT reports. It blurs the boundaries between manufacturer and prescriber,” says Nathan Cortez, a health law expert at Southern Methodist University. That makes it difficult to determine which entities should monitor this for lapses in medical ethics. “Who’s minding the store here?” (STAT)
PHCPI to dissolve
The Primary Health Care Performance Initiative will disband at the end of the year. The partnership was founded in 2015. Collaborators included Ariadne Labs and UNICEF. “PHCPI was designed to be a catalytic initiative to advance a joint agenda on [primary health care] measurement, which in turn could provide foundational support to our partner organizations’ respective missions,” according to the PHCPI announcement. “Our organizations remain fully committed to continuing to work together to build on PHCPI’s legacy and realize a world where every person, community, and country benefits from strong primary health care, starting with better measurement.” (PHCPI announcement)
Patients aren’t returning to pre-pandemic patterns
Demand for primary care and surgical services remains below pre-pandemic levels, and as the number of commercially insured patients decreases, health care costs continue to rise, according to health care analytics company Trilliant Health. Moreover, patients have more choices with the entry of CVS, Amazon and Walmart, among others. These trends pose significant competitive threats to traditional providers, Trilliant’s Sanjula Jain, PhD, tells Fierce Healthcare. “Despite there being more care options… patients, at large, across the country have not returned to pre-pandemic care patterns and that’s the bottom line of what’s affecting everyone’s business model.” (Fierce Healthcare)
Evidence & Innovation
Bodenheimer: Fund primary care, add nurses and pharmacists to the team
Primary care is in critical condition. To address this, Thomas Bodenheimer, MD, MPH, has been calling for team-based care. But we aren’t there yet. Among the barriers: physicians’ lack of trust; state laws and regulations that don’t permit nurses and pharmacists to get paid for things they can easily do for patients; and shortsighted CFOs. Mostly, he tells Managed Healthcare Executive, primary care really should get 10% of the health care dollar rather than 5%. That would mean “enough money to hire the people — the nurses and pharmacists and physical therapists, for example — to be on teams that can help the physicians take care of their overly large panels and make life a lot better for the physician.” (Managed Healthcare Executive)
GoodRx launches provider version of tool
GoodRx — the consumer-facing, digital drug discount startup — is launching Provider Mode, a new version of its platform that is tailored for providers. Doctors, medical office staff and other health care workers have already been using the consumer-facing version to help patients find discounts and programs to help them afford prescribed medications. Provider Mode adds several new tools intended to reduce administrative burden. It keeps track of frequently prescribed medications and allows providers to text, email or print the coupon to the patient during a visit. (Healthcare Dive; announcement)
Policy Solutions
NQF launches project to make health information accessible
The National Quality Forum has launched a project funded by YouTube Health to help health care stakeholders provide quality online health information to patients and consumers and to advance quality standards for health information on social media. As part of this project, NQF will develop an issue brief that expands existing definitions of high-quality health information, highlighting the importance of accessibility to consumers of all levels of health literacy. NQF will convene experts at the intersection of social media, health communication and healthcare quality, focusing on the ways consumers find, understand and use the information. (EIN News)
In Case You Missed It!
October 2022 Policy Update: ERIC & GTMRx’s PBM Transparency Advocacy Campaign
After a short September of work in Congress, House and Senate members are once again back at home, campaigning in advance of the November election. They’ll be gone throughout October, although congressional staff will remain here in Washington, DC most of the time. They’re working to prepare for November and December, wherein Congress will address some must-pass legislation and potentially work to clear the decks before the new Congress convenes in January 2023.
ERIC and GTMRx are still working hard behind the scenes to advance legislation to improve care for patients.
GTMRx Blog | Overcoming turnover, transitions and a troubled system: Making CMM work in long-term care
Getting the medications right can be a challenge for any patient. When it comes to seniors, however, teams face even more hurdles. Older patients are more likely to be sicker, frailer and on multiple medications, requiring knowledge, expertise and patience. But the greatest challenges for this population may be operational, not clinical.
GTMRx in Health Affairs | Underappreciated CMM is the missing ingredient to value-based models
Comprehensive medication management is the missing ingredient in value-based models, but despite evidence supporting its effectiveness and value, it remains underappreciated and underused, a group of GTMRx leaders write in Health Affairs Forefront. They highlight the evidence for CMM, including how it supports all five elements of the Quintuple Aim—including the newest aim, equity. Their a call to action: Align on the standardized definition of CMM “to promote well-defined CMM practice standards for consistent implementation, and to promote properly resourced CMM services in value-based contracting.” (Health Affairs Forefront)
New Report Available! Optimizing Medication Use for Accountable Care Success
A value-based care resource derived from an event sponsored by the GTMRx Institute & the Institute for Advancing Health Value
This report covers:
- Comprehensive medication management (CMM) in ACOs/ enhancing value
- The reported effects of CMM and pharmacy integration
- The key elements of success for effective medication therapy management programs
- Key issues impacting CMM success in ACOs, such as:
- Population health
- Social determinants of health
- Using data to transform care
- Change management/philosophy of practice
- Network expansion and clinical integration
- Accountability and relationship management
Read the report here.
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.
AmazonSmile is an easy way for 0.5% of your qualified purchases go to the GTMRx Foundation at no cost to you. And signing up is simple—go to smile.amazon.com and select “Get the Medications Right Foundation” as your charity of choice. If you prefer to directly donate instead, you can do so here.
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.
