Cardinal Health introduces 2017 Managed Care Advisory Panel
DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health last week announced it is providing a pharmacy-centered approach to Medicare preferred access for 2017, balancing access and economics with the only Advisory Panel of pharmacy owners in the industry.
“Independent pharmacies no longer need to have preferred access to every Medicare Part D plan – only the plans that economically make sense for them,” stated Elie Bahou, VP managed care and business development at Cardinal Health. “We rely on our Managed Care Advisory Panel of independent pharmacy owners to select plans that make the most sense for our network. Network decisions are made by pharmacy owners for pharmacy owners.”
To make informed decisions on how to best serve the entire network of pharmacies and their patients, including more than 4,300 LeaderNET and Medicine Shoppe/Medicap pharmacy members, Cardinal Health relies on their Managed Care Advisory Panel. This group of independent pharmacy owners and network members utilize industry-leading data analytics for a 360-degree review of all of the proposed contracts for Cardinal Health.
“As reimbursement pressures continue, it is essential for us to continue to fight for our pharmacies and focus on their needs,” Bahou said. “Cardinal Health is the only Pharmacy Services Administrative Organization to have an advisory panel of independent pharmacy owners as decision makers on preferred access. The access our panel has accepted for 2017 will put our network of pharmacies in a position to succeed.”
In order to be successful, pharmacies need to take advantage of their time to talk with their patients during Medicare Open Enrollment, which begins Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7. This year, Cardinal Health partnered with Jason Kizer of Kizer Pharmacy in Tennessee to share best practices in becoming trusted advisors to patients during the Medicare Open Enrollment period.
“Pharmacists need to be able to provide patients with all of their Medicare Part D options, and help identify what works best for their patients’ unique needs. We know these patient conversations can be challenging, but with our tools, we can help pharmacists navigate the consultations by making prescription drug plan comparisons easier to use,” said Bahou.
In addition to Kizer Pharmacy’s best practices, pharmacists have access to several online tools and resources from Cardinal Health to ensure they are guiding patients to make informed decisions on Medicare drug plan options.
To help identify appropriate plans, Cardinal Health offers independent pharmacists:
Reimbursement Consulting Services, a service that improves reimbursement accuracy by managing and analyzing pharmacy's dispensing data. Through a new report, pharmacists can easily identify eligible patients for Medicare enrollment. Pharmacists can save time searching for eligible patients and spend more time having conversations with these patients when they come into the pharmacy. This integrated dashboard is a unique offering of Cardinal Health;
eHealth’s Medicare plan comparison tool, a free online resource that allows busy pharmacists to quickly and easily help their patients find the lowest cost Medicare prescription drug coverage plan to meet their specific prescription drug needs. In a fraction of the time required by other methods, the tool creates a custom plan comparison report, specific to the data entered for each patient, which shows the user health plan options that will save the most money for the patient; and
iMedicare, a platform integration system that identifies patients eligible to choose a Medicare plan, then generates a customized report within seconds. The iMedicare platform is offered at a discounted price for Cardinal Health PSAO members.
Cardinal Health provides a comprehensive suite of Managed Care services to thousands of independent and regional pharmacies – negotiating contracts on their behalf with health insurance plans and pharmacy benefits managers to help them increase prescription volume and gain access to new patients.