Becker's Hospital Review

69 Executive Briefing activities are performed remotely. This frees on-site pharmacy staff to participate in expanded, patient-centered care. "We work with some facilities where the pharmacists' duties include medication reconciliation and discharge planning with patients before they go home. Hospitals see a direct correlation between these activities and increased HCAHPS scores for medication questions," Mr. Brown explained, adding that one hospital Cardinal Health has collaborated with recently launched an initiative to reduce readmissions for cardiac patients. As a part of this program, pharmacists speak with patients during the discharge process, review prescription instructions and help patients pick up medications from the pharmacy before leaving the hospital. This patient-centered approach to pharmacy has significantly reduced readmissions at the hospital. Health systems are no longer confined to the four walls of the hospital. As organizations expand into ambulatory care, the silos associated with traditional pharmacy practice are crumbling. "When I graduated from pharmacy school years ago, you were either a hospital pharmacist or a retail pharmacist," Mr. Brown said. "Those days are over. You have to be able to do both." To ensure high-quality care throughout the continuum, pharmacists must meet patients wherever they get care — that could be the physician's office, the hospital, a surgery center or a retail pharmacy. Transforming the pharmacy department from reactive to strategic Pharmacy administrators can often fall into two traps: They can be overly focused on cost control and/or overly reactive to outside forces, like regulatory changes or drug shortages. In today's healthcare environment, the best pharmacy leaders understand the organizational strategy and look at things through a lens of operational excellence. This perspective positions them to identify initiatives that align with the health system's goals. "If you're only focused on cost-cutting, you may be doing more harm than good," Mr. Brown said. "We try to reframe the conversation and explore how pharmacy teams can drive innovation in their health systems. Given mounting financial pressures, innovation is the key to expanding services and improving care." Once new policies are in place, it is essential to involve the key stakeholders and measure results. Two types of metrics are helpful for the pharmacy department: • Cost metrics related to drug utilization. When Cardinal Health rolls out clinical programs for clients, it tracks drug costs by prescribing physician, DRG code, discharge category and more. • Operationally dependent scorecard metrics. Regulations mandate that pharmacy departments do certain things such as count controlled medications and ensure that all employees are licensed. To monitor these activities, Cardinal Health maintains a scorecard for clients with approximately 450 metrics. The scorecard is reviewed annually then spot-checked throughout the year, which supports continuous compliance. Looking ahead: Data, collaboration and strategic roadmaps In the next five years, Cardinal Health expects that data, collaboration and strategic planning will only become more essential to bridge the gap between clinical excellence and operational efficiency. Data helps different stakeholders find common ground around organizational objectives. "Good data systems are number one. If a healthcare organization doesn't have good data and systems to understand their usage patterns and clinical metrics, they will be very challenged as they try to improve in those areas," Mr. Rajalingam said. One way Cardinal Health can help is through the WaveMark inventory management platform, which provides visibility into data while also helping to collect and generate data that drives insights. Collaboration with top suppliers, vendors and business partners is also critical for hospitals. Cardinal Health works with many health systems at a strategic level to create three-to five-year roadmaps to help achieve operational efficiency. These roadmaps assess potential areas for growth, possible changes to the patient population and operational targets necessary to achieve cost savings. "Once you have a strategy, you must prioritize and put together a tactical plan," Mr. Brown said. "In pharmacy, for example, it's all around which medications to use and their costs. Another consideration is how to redeploy staff to expand patient care. An area that's often overlooked is continuous compliance." Conclusion There is great opportunity standing right in front of health systems to make meaningful clinical and operational improvements. Cardinal Health's work with health systems has contributed to a better patient experience, as evidenced by improved HCAHPS scores. "All these factors affect the financial metrics, so the [organizations that are further along with the implementation and measurement of correlating clinical and financial outcomes are] also seeing higher margins and profitability in the system overall," Mr. Rajalingam said. "To see them improve patient outcomes has been exciting." n Cardinal Health, Inc. is a global, integrated healthcare services and products company, providing custom- ized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laborato- ries and physician offices worldwide. The company provides clinically proven medical products, pharma- ceuticals and cost-effective solutions that enhance supply chain efficiency from hospital to home. Backed by nearly 100 years of experience, with approximately 50,000 employees in nearly 46 countries, Cardinal Health ranks #14 on the Fortune 500.

• Cover