As more attention is shifted onto the vexing issue of medication adherence, an increasingly common theme is the emerging importance of the role of the pharmacist, with a significant share of that translating to retail pharmacies. Walgreens, CVS Health and Rite Aid, to name just a few, have far more interaction with an array of patients, particularly those at risk for readmission to a hospital because of missed or misunderstood medications, than even a primary care physician.
A recent collaboration between Walgreens and Texas-based startup Loopback Analytics underscores this very development, applying emerging analytics technology between hospitalizations to save providers from getting penalized. It’s a win for the patient, hospital and the pharmacy all at once, said Neil Smiley, CEO and founder of Loopback.
“A patient might see their primary care physician two times a year,” he said. “They’re going to see their pharmacist many more times than that. A pharmacists may be the very first one to pick up on that. Also, the patient goes into the doctor, that’s a very quick visit. Having the pharmacist be able to fill in the blanks and make sure they don’t stumble … that is really key.”
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
The Walgreens WellTransitions program, powered by Loopback Analytics,is a HIPAA-compliant medication adherence solution. Pharmacists coordinate with hospital staff to help patients and caregivers better understand prescription therapies during and after discharge. It has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association for its success in improving medication adherence and reducing hospital readmissions
“Walgreens was looking for a platform for medication adherence risk,” Smiley said. “They had done some things on their own, but they decided our technology would be pretty helpful.
They’re in a very unique position to address all of these key points of failure,” he added. Such failures are numerous, ranging from language barriers to lack of transportation to dementia with older patients, or a patient who is on multiple specialty meditations.
The challenge for the pharmacy was identifying which customers were high-risk; the hospital systems, on the other hand, often know full well who’s at risk but are reluctant to share patient data for a slew of reasons. That’s where Loopback comes in.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
“One of things we do is connect to the hospital information systems and use data analytics .. and also identify risk for medication adherence failure – are (patients) on 10 or more medications? Do they have a pattern of not filling medications or taking high risk meds? Who’s likely to me readmitted?
“The first step was really starting with the data integration steps,” Smiley continued. “Hospitals said ‘I’d love to work with Walgreens, but I’m not going to share all the data.’ We serve as the data custodian. We have complete visibility to the hospital’s data and pick out the patients based on the data.”
Loopback, founded in 2009, says Walgreen’sWellTransitions program has already proven effective – two Valley Baptist Health System hospitals in Texas reduced readmission rates by 51 percent from 2011 to 2013 using the program, according to a case study of a pilot.
“This has real value not only for the health of their patients, but also for the hospital’s financial performance. Between the two hospitals they saved approximately $750,000 over eight months,” the case study says. “Additional data has shown that pharmacist follow-up calls contributed to 57 percent reduction in 30-day readmission rates relative to control group in 2013 at VBHS.”
The push toward ACOs, bundled payments and capitation are all helping to drive more accurate and quantifiable medication adherence efforts, and Walgreens and other pharmacies have the opportunity both grow business and contribute to lower costs, Smiley said.
“This is one of these rare spots in healthcare where you have a win-win-win,” he said. “Patients get better faster, there’s fewer readmissions, certainly the hospitals are better off and they avoid the cost, or anyone who is the payer, and Walgreens benefits because (patients) are staying on their meds and refilling them.”
