Industry Issues Summit: How VillageMD is transforming health care
Adam Chesler, senior vice president of pharmacy at VillageMD, sat down with Valerie Mondelli, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of RevSpring, at Drug Store News’ 25th Industry Issues Summit in December to discuss how VillageMD is transforming health care. Here is an edited version of their conversation.
Valerie Mondelli: You’re serving underserved communities in rural settings. Talk about your mission and your unique advantage.
Adam Chesler: It’s about being accessible. At VillageMD, we often refer to the right time, right place and right care for the patient–being accessible for our patients where they are, and making sure they have access to care where and when they need it.
VM: What does value-based care mean to VillageMD?
AC: I’m a pharmacist by training. Going into this venture and joining VillageMD was exciting. VillageMD understood the value of a pharmacist. For example, as a pharmacist, when we started providing immunizations to patients, we had some doctors who thought pharmacists were taking revenue away from them. In the value-based care model, that mindset shifts. It’s now ‘thank you for providing our flu shots. We need the capacity to see our patients for higher acuity care.’ It’s not about fee-for-service anymore. It’s about total care for the patient under value-based care.
VM: Elaborate on the pharmacist’s role.
AC: Having a retail pharmacy partner makes accessibility to care so much easier. We’re partnering in many different areas, for example adherence. Getting pharmacists to understand adherence is more about keeping a patient well than it is about filling an additional script.
VM: Tell us more about value-based care.
AC: I’ll share another example; Medication reconciliation post discharge. One focus of value-based care is knowing that every time a patient shows up in a hospital it can cost $15,000 to $20,000, but sometimes it’s not preventable. The first place patients go when they leave the hospital is the pharmacy. One of the hardest things for us to do as providers for high-risk patients when they get discharged is to get them to show up in our clinic. They are tired and just want to go home. We call, email and text them and ask, can you come in? We need to see you, to make sure your medications are correct.
VM: What digital tools and self-serve technology are you using?
AC: We want to make sure the patient gets health care that’s convenient for them. For example, preregistration. When we think about digital tools, it’s accessing the patient, hitting the patient where they need it. If you register before your appointment it not only saves the patient a ton of time, but also clinic staff can be better prepared for your visit. If you get text messages about medication reminders or delivery, billing for the medication before delivery or a text message notification letting them know the prescription is having issues, we reduce confusion and unintended consequences. At VillageMD we reach out to our patients where they want to be reached.
