A recently published study, “The Value of the Long-Term Care Pharmacist in the Delivery and Continuum of Care,” by Managed Health Care Associates (MHA), supports the notion that investments in long-term care (LTC) pharmacies are making in labor and technology to support the entire patient-resident journey are, of course, driving additional costs of dispensing drugs.
The results of a 2017 study conducted by Consonus Pharmacy in Milwaukie, Oregon, showed that the pharmacy’s integrated electronic medical record/ pharmacist intervention model caused a 6% reduction in readmission rates to an acute care setting, in addition to 28% of all medication regimen reviews resulting in at least 1 discontinued medication.
“Not only has this integrated model provided benefit to the beneficiary, but we have seen through this study that with the new [patient-driven payment model/] facility reimbursement model, the facility reimbursement has increased $100 per resident,” said Neil Marshall, the president of Consonus Pharmacy.