Good Shepherd Health Institute

The fee-for-service pharmacy reimbursement model doesn't work. You see it in the incredible number of pharmacy closures, in the increasing push for pharmacies to add other services, in the critically low staffing levels of many pharmacies. What if we changed it? Alongside several partners, Good Shepherd participated in a multi-year pilot study to examine the feasibility of a membership pharmacy model. And it worked. Plans saved money. The pharmacy had a reliable stream of income. Patients had better adherence and more access to pharmacy staff. A version of this article originally appeared in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, but we've shortened it here. 👇 https://lnkd.in/egfT9Vwz #pharmacy #healthcare #membershippharmacy #PBMs #feeforservice #pharmacyreimbursement #prescriptionspending #prescriptioncosts

Recently, the San Francisco Standard published an article calling prescription fills at Walgreens a "special hell." Does your pharmacy staffing look a little like that? Cashiers, techs, pharmacists or any pharmacy employees - tell us about your experience in this ANONYMOUS staffing survey. https://lnkd.in/eC_rdHjU #pharmacy #staffing #pharmacystaffing #walgreens #healthcare #understaffed #patientsfirst

Time to clean out your medicine cabinet! The Drug Enforcement Administration's next drug take-back day is coming up Saturday, Oct. 26. This is a great option for prescription drugs that may be expired or that cannot be donated (like controlled substances, open bottles or refrigerated substances). But if you find an unexpired, unopened, good condition drug that may benefit a patient who can't afford their prescription, contact us/our sister company RemediChain. Start by filling out the form on their website (https://lnkd.in/gtQeWETB) and they'll contact you within one business day. If they can take your donation, they'll send you a shipping label. Donors never pay to send their medication, and your donation could help save another patient's life. #donatemymeds #drugtakeback #medicationdonation #patientsfirst #healthcare #pharmacy

Prior Authorizations (PA) are a staple for most insurance plans. But what started out as a good idea (to ensure plan members are getting the most cost-effective care) has become an inefficient practice that both wastes resources and disrupts patient care. The stats are sobering. Denials are rampant, but more than 80% are overturned on appeal. All while patients wait in limbo to access treatments or have their existing care disrupted during a waiting period. Is there a better way? What are your suggestions? #healthcare #priorauthorization #healthinsurance #medicationadherence #pharmacy #healthcareaccess #prescriptions

Think your PBM hasn't 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 affected your health care? Get this: basic insulin costs only a couple of dollars to make, but the federal government recently forced them to stop charging patients hundreds of dollars a pop. For a 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞. And the new "price caps" don't actually apply to all patients. What if we stopped marking up medication prices and made pharmacy about patients? #patientsfirst #PBMs #diabetes #insulin #prescriptions #prescriptioncosts #medicationcosts #healthcare #healthcarecosts

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐩𝐮𝐭! We're conducting a totally anonymous survey to gauge staffing levels at pharmacies across the United States. Can you take a few minutes to tell us about your experience? https://lnkd.in/eC_rdHjU #staffing #pharmacy #pharmacist #pharmacytech #CVS #Walgreens #Walmart #independentpharmacy #independentpharmacies #communitypharmacies #pharmacydrivethru #PBMs

A few weeks ago, The ERISA Industry Committee called on Congress to treat PBMs as a fiduciary – ensuring they put the best financial interests of plan members first. This is a big "OF COURSE" from us. 👏 Support. https://lnkd.in/ebjzhv5g #healthcare #PBMs #selffundedplans #healthinsurance #prescriptions #prescriptioncosts #fiduciary #patientsfirst #healthcarecosts

You've probably heard of "cost plus" pharmacies. You know, the ones that sell medicines with a flat markup of the drug's cost? In theory, it seems like a good idea. But it still relies on markups and dispensing as many prescriptions as possible – the same volume-focused mess we're in now. The incentive is to fill prescriptions, and there's usually little to no focus on things like patient adherence – which is the real game-changer. A better solution? Let's get the numbers out of the way and go to membership models. Patients get what they need. And we're not reimbursing based on an arbitrary metric. Our founder, Phil Baker, laid out the opportunity in an article for the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association earlier this year. Check it out 👇. https://lnkd.in/eB65BQqH #healthcare #pharmacy #costplus #costpluspharmacy #prescriptions #prescriptionadherence #patientsfirst #membershippharmacy

As pharmacy currently stands, any boost to efficiency can be a win. EHRs were a good idea, but the system is so disjointed that it isn't a silver bullet to ensure every patient has a complete history. And, really, what pharmacist actually has the time required to manually go through a single patient's history on the phone? Is your pharmacy using AI to boost efficiency in any way? How's it working for you? #artificialintelligence #AI #pharmacy #patientsfirst #efficiency #pharmacist #EHR #medicationhistory #prescriptions #healthcare

As a profession, pharmacy is in the middle of an identity crisis. Pharmacy school enrollment is dangerously low, with the industry facing a shortage of thousands of pharmacists in coming years. And that ultimately hurts patients. One of the most critical changes we can make today is to change the culture. No one seeks out high-stress/low-reward environments or desires to work in an understaffed chain pharmacy. But these are the fruits of the volume-based industry as it stands. What can we do? 1. 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫(𝐬). Ask for prescription price transparency. Or encourage them to consider skipping the traditional PBM in favor of a concierge pharmacist. Our sister company HaloScrips is a good choice! 2. 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬. Expanded roles for techs to do basic tasks like assist with prescription transfers (where applicable) would go a long way toward helping PharmDs work more efficiently. 3. 𝐁𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝. Many pharmacists, especially those in 24-hour pharmacies at hospitals or who work in major chains' drive-thrus, are overworked and understaffed. Join us in advocating for a fix to the problem. Check out https://lnkd.in/gRRPvV5u for resources, information and more. #pharmacy #pharmacist #pharmacistshortage #prescriptions #patientsfirst #PBM #healthcare