Consana demonstrates the value of integrating clinical pharmacy services into the patient care team, both in terms of health outcomes and healthcare costs.

KenCrest’s Adult Community Living Homes allow individuals to live in the community of their choice with the supports they require, and access to activities, employment, friends and family. Extended stay group-home patients, like the KenCrest patients in this program, often have extensive healthcare needs for which they see multiple providers at varying intervals. Effective communication of the care plan to all providers in a timely manner will facilitate improved disease state and medication management.

Consana partnered with KenCrest of Pennsylvania’s Adult Community Living Homes to make evident the opportunity to achieve the three main goals of improving healthcare; improve population health, reduce per capita costs and improve both patient and provider experiences, through embedding a clinical pharmacist into the patient-focused team.

A clinical pharmacist met with each patient, and/or other members of the care team, to conduct an interactive comprehensive medication management (CMM) consultation. Following the interview, the clinical pharmacy team used treatment guidelines, evidence-based literature, and professional knowledge and experience to identify opportunities for improvement in the patient’s care plan.

Consana clinical pharmacists identified areas that necessitated intervention with the care team including; adverse drug event detection and prevention, change of medication or dose, unmet indication, unnecessary medication, need for medical follow-up or monitoring, and education among others. An average of 10 recommendations were made per patient, which included 6.6 medication change recommendations resulting in a possible cost avoidance of $2,710.90 per patient. Seventy-nine percent of recommendations received responses during the pilot, which is relatively high compared to similar programs; and provider agreement with those responses was exceptionally high at 94% positive. Nonfinancial considerations include better patient outcomes, improved patient and provider satisfaction, improved care coordination, and improved or enhanced positioning for value-based reimbursement and patient-centered medical home certification. All stakeholders within this pilot will continue to benefit from the demonstrated value of CMM through decreased health care costs, and improved clinical outcomes and quality scores.

To learn more about the value of clinical pharmacy services Consana provides, contact us at info@consanahealth.com.