Drug Topics - October 22, 2007 - (Page H20)

20HSE DRUG TOPICS OCTOBER 22, 2007 www.drugtopics.com Professional Practice AHA president to R.Ph.s: Here’s how you can increase your value Kathryn Foxhall he work of health-system pharmacists must, first and foremost, reflect safety and quality. But pharmacists might think about loosening up a bit on method. So said Richard Umbdenstock, American Hospital Association president and CEO, at a recent meeting of ASHP in Bethesda, Md. Recognizing that “a prescribing medical staff is a very difficult entity,” he told pharmacists, “you “We have to stress have got to stress value in your formuthe balance of costs laries. We have to stress the balance of costs and quality. Cost has to be a realand quality. Cost ity factor,” he said. “I am guessing there are times when it’s going to require has to be a reality compromise with someone: your nursfactor.” ing staff, your IT department, maybe your CFO.” He urged pharmacists to Richard Umbdenstock be firm on the goal of quality but sugPresident and CEO, AHA gested they might question the “best in breed” approach they may have had for a number of years. “To the extent that you can work on regional formularies so that you get more consistency across a given community … maybe you can help the overall picture as well.” T basis, meaning that money for new expenses is expected to be taken from the current budget. And if any request for payment is “seen as increasing overall healthcare costs and not in some way providing a return on investment to help moderate or decrease costs, it, too, is going to be a very short discussion.” Pay-for-performance Telling the meeting that pay-for-performance is probably here to say, Umbdenstock said, “Some linkage between the outcome of our work and the financial incentive or reward will, I think, only continue to grow.” Some of that new emphasis is good, he said. “For years, people in the healthcare sector said, ‘If you cut the dollars, quality will go down.’ In fact, the studies are starting to show that the right care, at the right time, in the right method actually gives you a better outcome, reduces your mistakes and your rework, and saves you money.” However, he went on, “with hundreds of different pay-for-performance schemes out there, this cacophony around quality measures must be brought into some coherent dialogue and progression toward the right set of measures in the various disciplines. We are involved with the Hospital Quality Alliance and the National Quality Forum to try to help streamline that process.” Noting that the AHA board has developed some core principles for healthcare reform which the organization is presenting to the various stakeholders (“Health for Life” at www.AHA.org under “Issues”), Umbdenstock warned: “The level of public discontent with costs is rising rapidly. Our data show that it went from about a third of the public saying they were dissatisfied with the costs of the system to over half, 51%, in one year.” Whatever the type of reform, he predicted, commercial insurers will continue to play a role, just as they do now in Medicare and other public programs. “On the other hand,” he said, “they have to be challenged on what value they bring to the equation and how they will help the system do more with the same or fewer resources.” That, he said, could engender discussions on the effectiveness of different plan designs and transparency around those, as well as on administrative simplification or standardization to try to take some of the estimated 20% to 35% administrative costs out of the system. THE AUTHOR Information systems In terms of aligning information systems, Umbdenstock said, “if we could build one communitywide medication administration record, or something like that, we would really be helping the consumer enormously.” Asked about AHA’s stance on payment for cognitive services in pharmacy, he said, “We do believe that the continued ratcheting down on payment, in this case payment for the pharmaceutical or drug only, makes no sense. Eventually it’s going to starve the system.” AHA wants “to work very closely with you to make sure that we put forth the right information and the right position for our policymakers, so that you continue to have the resources necessary to do the job right.” He added, however, that in the current fiscal environment in WashRichard Umbdenstock, ington, it’s difficult to find new money. AHA president and CEO, Congress, he noted, is supposed to be urges pharmacists to be more flexible. adding things only on a pay-as-you-go is a writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.AHA.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - October 22, 2007

Drug Topics - October 22, 2007 Contents Latebreakers Legislative Victory Builds Momentum for Pharmacy Month Letters Health-System Edition R.Ph.s Brace for Payment Denial for Hospital-Acquired Conditions Topical Human Thrombin Helps Arrest Bleeding FDA Panels Fail to Set Target Levels for Renal Patients’ Hemoglobin Warning Letters Raise Patient Safety Concerns for Fentora Ending/Reversing Weight Gain Man Given Fatal Drug Overdose at Staten Island Hospital Pharmacists Playing More Important Role in Dialysis Treatment AHA President R.Ph.'s Here's How You Can Increase Your Value Premier Launches Comprehensive Quality Improvement Project FDA Approves Dexrazoxane for Treatment of Extravasation New Federal, State Reforms to Ease Disaster Relief Kinks 150 Years of American Pharmacy Ten Tips for MTM Success Independent Superstars: The Ones to Watch The New Dynamic Duo A Parkinson's Disease Primer Classified New Products Advertisers Index Viewpoint

Drug Topics - October 22, 2007

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