Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1544994
49 PHARMACY and driving down readmission rates. We will also capitalize on the close-knit teams in our critical access hospitals, as we research embedding 'incubators for Innovation' in those pharmacies to further expand ambulatory services and experiment with pharmacy technician embedment to achieve true global med rec. In addition, we are building our inpatient clinical pharmacist team, with the ultimate goal of opening a residency program to focus on the challenges and opportunities in smaller, rural health systems. It's an exciting time to be at Tanner Health! Here innovation and patient care are at the forefront of all we do for our rural communities. Kari Ford, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy at Saint Anthony Hospital (Chicago): is year at Saint Anthony Hospital, we are very excited to work on the development of an infusion center to increase access to life-sustaining therapies within our Little Village community. Currently, members of our community have very few options to receive infusion-related care and must travel outside of the community and our hospital to address their needs which can lead to gaps in care, preventable hospitalization, and increased complexity of care. is project is a great collaborative effort between pharmacy, medicine, nursing, finance, patient scheduling, and leadership, to build a sustainable, patient-centered infusion model that aims to bring care back to our organization from prescribing to administration of therapy. Initial therapies will likely include rheumatology, GI, and neurology related treatments with hopes to expand to oncology therapies as we continue to learn and grow with the program. Ultimately, the goal of this initiative is to reflect the broader mission of Saint Anthony Hospital, to care for our neighbors by providing high-quality care, never turning away or leaving anyone behind. Vince Sung, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy, Oncology and Infusion at Ascension St. John (Tulsa, Okla.): is year, I'm leading an effort to bring our infusion sites into alignment — standardizing how we work so patients get the same quality of care no matter which location they walk into. Right now, fragmented care is driving up costs and creating inconsistency we can't ignore. We can close that gap by incorporating clinical guidelines directly into our workflows. e goal is simple: deliver evidence-based care consistently across every site. at's how we build something that's both clinically sound and financially sustainable long-term. Sterling Elliott, PharmD. Clinical Pharmacist Lead of Ambulatory Surgery Practice, Surgery and Procedures at Northwestern Medicine (Chicago): An interdisciplinary team of providers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago is working in concert to expand a program of preemptive oral analgesia from a limited orthopaedic use to patients having surgeries in all disciplines. Pharmacy is working with anesthesia to make the use of acetaminophen and celecoxib a standard of pain management care for all patients without contraindications or allergies. e goal is to leverage low-cost oral agents to down-regulate the flow of pain signals and combat inflammation, a root cause of pain. Preemptive analgesia is a growing tool in the arsenal that offers clinical and economic benefits. Surgeons from many disciplines are championing the effort with the goal of helping patients manage pain while limiting the use of opioids and relatively higher cost non-opioid medications such as injectable acetaminophen. e ultimate goal is to optimize patients' experiences managing post-surgical pain and the financial efficiency of providing that high quality care. Sarah ornton, PharmD. Pharmacy Director of Specialty Pharmacy Services at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock, Ark.): At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, we have recently implemented a transition of care pharmacist and pharmacy technician team within our Specialty Pharmacy who helps support providers with patients who are on Specialty medications that are soon to discharge. is team ensures that the prior authorization and any financial assistance is obtained prior to discharge and the pharmacist completes a medication reconciliation and counsels the patient upon discharge. We are looking to further expand this program by linking it with our pharmacist led medication reconciliation program that happens upon patient admission to our health system. We are also exploring ways to expand infusion access for patients throughout Arkansas and looking for best ways to combat site of care restrictions from payers with infusion. Our goal is to determine the best path forward to expand access in a rural state to infusion therapy to positively impact patient care. Matthew Webber, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy Business at Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.): is year, I'm bringing to life something we started building 18 months ago at Novant Health: a dedicated pharmacy revenue integrity team built around ownership, accountability, and deep subject matter expertise. Pharmacy revenue cycle has historically been neglected, technically owned by everyone, and fully optimized by no one. at gap has quietly cost health systems for years in increased denials and under-reimbursement. Pharmacy has already stepped up on the front end, with Infusion Access Teams and Medication Access Specialists helping patients navigate prior authorizations across medical benefit and PBM channels. A dedicated revenue integrity function closes the back end of that loop, moving the discipline from reactive to proactive. Getting reimbursed accurately for the care we provide isn't optional; it funds our ability to keep delivering it. Eric Guile. Regional Director of Pharmacy, Central Region-IL, KS, MO, TN, IA, WI at Encompass Health (Birmingham, Ala.): e idea I am most excited about is the use of our EHR to work interdisciplinary in the area of medication education. We have developed and piloted a medication reconciliation checklist that integrates into our patient interview form. is form helps ensure that we are addressing adherence barriers and working with therapy, nursing, and case management to navigate these barriers before discharge. Nicole Copley, PharmD. Director of Pharmacy at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Institute of Libertyville (Ill.): Although not a new concept to the world of Pharmacy, we're really attempting to strive for stronger patient safety opportunities, as well as a deeper patient-centered care/connection. We've incorporated mid-stay check-ins with our inpatient rehabilitation patients, allowing us to get a chance to discuss how the patient's stay and care are going. Some of the questions we're able to ask and dive deeper with the patients include: "How is your stay going? What questions do you have for me about your medications? Do you feel any concerns you may have about pain are being addressed? and What are you looking forward to the most when you go home?" is allows for open dialogue, along with an opportunity to address any process improvements and medication concerns while the patient is still here. We have gotten great feedback and it's improved our connections with our patients while they're here with us. is is an overall win-win for us here at Encompass Health Libertyville. n