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IRVINE, Calif. — PrescribeWellness announced that Patty Kumbera has joined the company as chief operating officer. Patty Kumbera Kumbera is widely known in the pharmacy industry for her expertise in Medication Therapy Management (MTM), as well as for her work in developing policies and programs that help pharmacists deliver patient-centric clinical services and care to improve health outcomes, while reducing costs for all parties involved.
As part of the PrescribeWellness executive leadership team, Kumbera will provide strategic vision to help the company execute its mission: deliver technology-enabled service solutions to help community pharmacies improve patient care and thrive economically. Additionally, her passion for infusing the interoperability of data communication throughout the marketplace allowed Kumbera to provide key guidance in the development of PrescribeWellness’ HL7 standardized Pharmacist eCare Plan, PrescribeCare. As PrescribeWellness continues to deliver action-oriented guidance to community pharmacists, Kumbera will leverage her deep understanding of the MTM marketplace and payer sphere to help drive the evolution of the company’s offerings.
Before being acquired by Cardinal Healthcare in 2015, Kumbera co-founded and then spent 15 years serving as COO of OutcomesMTM, a leader in the Medication Therapy Management Services (MTMS) credited with pioneering a practical business model to expand pharmacist services and deliver compensation for successful outcomes.
Kumbera worked with the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) to facilitate a pharmacy profession-wide consensus of definitions related to MTM and SNOMED CT codes used in the creation of MTM Value Sets hosted by AMCP, PQA and PHIT Collaborative. Kumbera’s knack for facilitating change and collaboration helped incite progress in MTM by urging CMS and Medicare Part D plan sponsors to regard MTM beyond its basic necessity.
“I’m proud to see the evolution of MTM over the past two decades, and I admire my colleagues across the industry, as they continually engage pharmacists to leverage their valuable services for patient care. But our work is not done. We must continue to drive pharmacy’s role in providing value-driven healthcare in a comprehensive and meaningful way – not just checking the box,” said Kumbera. “I’m honored to join the PrescribeWellness leadership team and share their intent and passion to be solution-oriented – to use technology to simplify processes so pharmacists can spend more productive and effective time with patients. Take care of the patient and you’ll take care of the rest of the healthcare stakeholders.”
Al Babbington
A graduate of the Drake University College of Pharmacy, she received the university’s Pharmacy and Health Science Alumni Achievement Award in 2009 followed by the inaugural APhA-APPM Distinguished Achievement Award in Pharmacy Management in 2013.
“The change from dispensing fees to value-based reimbursement is happening rapidly. Health plans and other payers throughout the country have already developed new payment models. Our pharmacies need to prepare now. Patty is the most qualified leader in the country to assure the PrescribeWellness nationwide network of pharmacies are prepared to embrace a patient-centric approach and maximize new payments” commented Al Babbington, chief executive officer of PrescribeWellness. “We are thrilled to have Patty join the executive team at this transformative period for pharmacy.”
