In light of new findings about the slow progression to value-based care models, organizations may want to give pharmacists a role in the transition to speed up the process, according to The Hill.
Pharmacists already have a hand in quality outcomes, writes B. Douglas Hoey, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has implemented a star-rating system for Medicare drug plans based on outcomes quality and medication adherence, and pharmacists are key to achieving high scores.
Some pharmacists practice medication synchronization to allow each refill to fall on the same day. This practice is moving them in the direction of an appointment-based model and provides them with a greater opportunity to discuss medication regimens with patients.
Some pharmacists are also tackling value-based care at the company level, according to Rite Aid CEO and Chairman John T. Standley in a piece for the Philadelphia Tribune. For example, the Rite Aid Health Alliance is a partnership between the company's pharmacists and health coaches and healthcare providers to help patients manage chronic conditions, he says.
The pharmacy sector is also ideally poised to improve preventive care, he writes, as pharmacists can intervene with patients before their conditions are serious enough to need hospitalization. "Because there's a pharmacy in virtually every community, they're well-suited to serve as hubs for the delivery of critical social and public-health services," he writes.
To learn more:
- here's the Hill article
- read the Tribune piece