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DUBLIN, Ohio — Pharmacists can learn how to increase their business and position themselves at the forefront of preferred network access through a 31-stop town hall tour that Cardinal Heath is conducting throughout the United States.
The “Reach for the Stars” town halls identify how pharmacists can contribute to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Star Ratings; ensure accurate reimbursement payments in narrow networks; streamline pharmacy efficiencies; and improve patient relationships and health outcomes.
“Pharmacy performance against CMS Star Ratings measures may influence access to pharmacy preferred networks, pay-for-performance programs run by health plans, and an ability to drive patient engagement and adherence,” said Steve Lawrence, senior vice president of retail independent sales at Cardinal Health. “It’s more important than ever for community pharmacies to understand how to ‘reach for the stars’ and improve their pharmacy performance contributing to CMS Star Ratings.”
Open to all community pharmacies, the town halls address this complex topic through specific actions pharmacists can take to improve their business and patient outcomes.
One focus of the town halls is on CMS Star Rating education: Health care continues to shift from a fee-for-service model to a value-driven model. To ensure pharmacies understand this changing landscape, the town halls offer a continuing education credit revolving around what Star Ratings are now, what they will be in the future, and how this impacts community pharmacy.
A phased approach to incorporating a value-based revenue stream in a community pharmacy setting through the implementation of patient care services will be examined, as will the impact of pharmacy performance on preferred Medicare networks. And methods for providing personalized patient care solutions will also be explored.
The town halls provide ways for a pharmacy to identify and measure pharmacy performance through EQuIPP as well as the Cardinal Health Reimbursement Consulting Services dashboard, according to Cardinal. Performance can also be measured through Cardinal Health MedSync Advantage, a new tool that identifies patients qualifying for medication synchronization.
“The future of independent pharmacy will revolve around change,” said John Balch, a pharmacist and owner of The PharmaCare Network. “The successful independent will embrace MTM, immunizations, adherence and compliance, and will become the shining star of their community.”
