CCNC, GSK and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy test new approaches to care delivery

 

RALEIGH, N.C. — The affiliated companies of Community Care of North Carolina, along with GlaxoSmithKline and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, on Thursday announced their intent to develop, implement and test new approaches to care delivery with the goal of helping lower healthcare costs through better use of medicines. While the healthcare sector continues to evolve into a system focused on rewarding quality of care, it has yet to master one of the most influential factors affecting our nation’s health: medication management. 

 

“Pharmacists’ practices will change significantly in the next three to five years,” said Allen Dobson, Jr, CCNC president and CEO. “We see tremendous potential in pharmacists becoming integral members of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals focused on the overall needs of the patient. This approach is particularly helpful for complex patients taking numerous prescription medicines," he noted. "Our research shows that pharmacists have frequent face-to-face contact with patients, far more than even physicians. This alliance will help show that close patient-pharmacist relationships coordinated with the patient’s physician are indeed valuable to our healthcare system, and can help to improve quality and lower costs.”

 

 

The approach centers on establishing “patient-centered medical homes” — virtual homes for an individual’s health care — that provide patients with a single point-of-contact to help coordinate their medical care, arrange care with other caregivers when necessary, and house electronic health records.

 

Initial projects on which the partners plan to collaborate include First in Health, a  program that has been in operation since 2012 that offers North Carolina-based GSK employees the option of a primary care medical home similar to that pioneered by CCNC in the public sector. In 2014, a comprehensive medication management initiative was added to the medical home program. CCNC will provide care management and work with GSK on analyzing data to tailor care to employees’ needs, while the UNC Eshelman School will measure, evaluate and help refine best practices in medication management and care delivery. 

 

And a second project is Care Triage. While many researchers are evaluating the power of big data, CCNC and GSK in a prior collaboration developed Care Triage, a health information technology tool that attempts to provide similar insights with a smaller data set that is available to more providers, including small provider organizations in rural areas. Through the use of Care Triage, CCNC, GSK and the UNC Eshelman School will define the use of small data in pharmacies to help identify patients at risk for hospitalization and drug therapy problems, and provide pharmacists with new tools and resources to efficiently deliver comprehensive medication management services to appropriate patients at the right time with the right interventions.

 

“Mounting evidence shows that improved use of medicines results in better health outcomes, while also helping to control other healthcare costs,” said Jack Bailey, SVP policy, payers and vaccines at GSK. “During a time when budgets are constrained and healthcare costs are rising, this work could yield promising results in helping contain costs. We are excited to begin testing new ways to improve patient engagement and hands-on care management that could help keep disease under control and patients out of the emergency room.”