ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The McKesson RxOTM team, a group of trusted advisors working to help hospital and health system pharmacy leaders track, manage and grow their pharmacy operations, has identified five trends it believes will impact hospital and health system pharmacies in 2018. McKesson will discuss these trends at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting 2017, which runs from Dec. 3 – 7, 2017.
“As value-based care models continue to gain greater acceptance, hospital and health system pharmacies are increasingly charged with generating revenue and improving savings that contribute to the system’s bottom line,” said Mark Eastham, B.S., R.Ph., senior vice president and general manager, McKesson RxO. “Renewed interest in 340B, the continued growth of specialty, and the ability to leverage data and analytics to drive outcomes and operational efficiencies are some of the key trends and opportunities facing health system pharmacies in the coming year.”
2018 Health System Pharmacy Trends:
1. Renewed Interest in 340B to Address Growing Oversight and
Reimbursement Changes
The ongoing policy debate over the 340B
Drug Pricing Program has raised health system leadership interest in the 340B
program to fund hospitals’ mission and support community benefit.
While participation in 340B adds complexity to pharmacy operations, the
cost savings and opportunities are significant. As a result, pharmacy
and supply chain leaders have renewed their focus on 340B to address
rising drug costs and to foster specialty and retail partnerships for
expanded patient care access and support. With increasing Health
Resources & Services Administration audits, health systems must be able
to demonstrate accountability and best practice compliance. To help
navigate the complexities of 340B and patient assistance programs,
health systems can draw on industry expertise to develop actionable
recommendations to optimize program participation and utilize a robust
340B management software package for audit preparations from McKesson.
2. Access to Data and Analytics to Drive Outcomes and
Operational Efficiency
Whether health systems grow organically
or through acquisitions, it is not uncommon to have a dozen or more
disparate databases housing critical clinical and operational data.
Organizations can use this information to make better financial,
clinical and operational decisions and drive improved outcomes. However,
a health system’s or hospital pharmacy’s analytics will only be as
effective as its source data, which is why it’s important that their IT
platforms have electronic data exchange (EDI) functionality. If the data
is not searchable or easily accessible, it cannot have a meaningful
impact on patient care or help physicians make better decisions.
McKesson RxO’s Utilization
AnalyticsTM integrates comprehensive pharmacy analytics
to track and monitor drug spend and utilization. The tool enables users
to optimize and reduce drug costs, explain drug usage and cost
variances, and improve staff efficiency by reducing time spent gathering
data.
3. Continued Growth in Specialty Market
The specialty
pharmaceuticals market continues to grow dramatically and health systems
are seeing the largest increase in specialty procurement. While 81
percent of U.S. health plans are covering at least one biosimilar
product, according to research published by Avalere Health, limited
networks and exclusive distribution channels for many specialty
pharmaceuticals create barriers to access and reimbursement. Despite
these barriers, specialty pharmaceuticals can generate significant
revenue and internal capabilities that support health systems’ quality
and continuity of care initiatives. Whether health systems want to
build, buy or partner, McKesson Specialty Health’s Biologics specialty
pharmacy and intraFUSION specialty infusion management offers resources
to help healthy systems develop the required clinical and operational
competencies and expertise.
4. Health System Pharmacies Generating Revenue
As a
growing percentage of health systems’ revenue comes from outside the
hospital, pharmacies are an increasingly important source of revenue. In
addition to the obvious expansion into specialty pharmaceuticals,
capturing discharged prescriptions, working with outpatient infusion
clinics, optimizing 340B opportunities, maximizing patient assistance
and recovery programs, and expanding retail and ambulatory pharmacy
services are just a few ways pharmacies can generate revenue. The
hospital pharmacy can be an overlooked piece of the revenue cycle, and
given the complexities in reimbursement, many systems are leaving money
on the table. Recovery
solutions help hospitals ensure that the pharmacy revenue cycle is
running efficiently.
5. Consolidation Driving Centralized Service Centers
The
industry continues to see tremendous consolidation in all areas,
including providers, payors, and vendors. Ongoing mergers and
consolidation drive the need for centralization of pharmacy operations
designed to help large health systems utilize a centralized hub to
manage costs, improve order entry and verification, and standardize
policies and procedures. Health system pharmacies have the opportunity
to centralize services such as order entry, compounding, packaging, and
dispensing that allows clinicians to focus on patient care and drive
costs down through improved inventory management and supply chain
visibility. Creating one central formulary for the system is a complex
issue, but a must to ensure consistency of patient care and optimal
patient outcomes. Standardizing drugs throughout a medical system
reduces variation, which limits medication pick errors, increases
patient safety and improves patient care.
About McKesson Corporation
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 5th on the FORTUNE 500, is a global leader in healthcare supply chain management solutions, retail pharmacy, community oncology and specialty care, and healthcare information technology. McKesson partners with pharmaceutical manufacturers, providers, pharmacies, governments and other organizations in healthcare to help provide the right medicines, medical products and healthcare services to the right patients at the right time, safely and cost-effectively. United by our ICARE shared principles, our employees work every day to innovate and deliver opportunities that make our customers and partners more successful — all for the better health of patients. McKesson has been named the “Most Admired Company” in the healthcare wholesaler category by FORTUNE, a “Best Place to Work” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, and a top military-friendly company by Military Friendly. For more information, visit mckesson.com.