HP Newsletter - Hospice Pharmacia

6
Passionate for the Appropriate Use of Medication
HP Continues to Enhance Quality While Adding Opportunities for Savings
Streamlined Performance Incentive Program, Added Discount on AWP for Medications Outside
of Protocol, and the Lowest Annual Price Adjustment Ever
- Calvin H. Knowlton, RPh, MDiv., PhD, CEO
Hospice Pharmacia is very pleased to
announce an enhanced and simplified
Performance Incentive Program (PIP),
effective October 1, 2005, simultaneous
with the launch of the new edition (VII) of
the Medication Use Guidelines. There are
two components to this new PIP, which will
be assessed each month and automatically
applied to your monthly statement.
1. Earn a 0.50% discount for having 85%
of your home care patients assessed for
ComfortPaks.
2. Earn a 0.75% discount for having
a functional interface between your
software and HP’s Xeris software. A
functional interface means either an FTP
or HL7 interface whereby >75% of your
referrals/admissions are communicated
successfully via the electronic interface.
We have removed the PIN, outcomes
reporting, and automated refills performance
benchmarks as we have found the reporting
functionality, especially reporting by nurse,
is already a great incentive for hospices to
encourage their staff to use their PIN. The
automated refill system will become much
easier with the introduction of voice to text
technology (targeted for 4q05) where the
nurse may say the patient’s phone number,
the PIN, and the refill number, instead of
having to use the telephone key pad.
Additionally, with the recent merger, wherein
excelleRx became a division of Omnicare, we are
able to take advantage of enhanced purchasing
power on medications that were traditionally
low volume for our organization—basically
the non-MUG medications. Therefore, also
effective October 1, 2005, we will be reducing
the medication price on our non-MUG
medications. Certainly, this is not to encourage
the use of non-MUGs!
HP’s per diems are set based upon a hospice’s
percentage of patients with cancer (vs. noncancer)
diagnoses. We have very specific and
detailed information correlating increased
HP encounters and medication mix with
higher cancer rates. While we monitor this
information on a quarterly basis, this year has
been significant in that dozens of our hospices
have received a per diem reduction letter from
HP because their cancer rate has dropped to
a lower bracket for two consecutive quarters
(e.g., from 45% to 35%).
Finally, every October is when most of our
hospice clients receive an annual per diem
price adjustment. This October will be the
lowest price adjustment in HP’s nine year
history—less than half of the 4.4% Producer
Price Index for Opioids (which is what
we use as our upper threshold each year).
Specifically, the HP per diem will increase
less than 2%, effective October 1, 2005.
Because AWP (Average Wholesale Price) is
adjusted by pharmaceutical manufacturers,
hospices are left without any controls on drug
pricing in the fee-for-service environment.
HP’s documented ability to help hospices
control costs is exemplary considering the
continued double-digit pharmacy increases
experienced in the healthcare industry
today.
So, in addition to our system for Prospective
Medication Therapy Management, our new
economies of scale are helping to hold down
your total pharmacy costs!
“I appreciate all that hospice pharmacia does for us.
I have been involved in hospice care for six years and
I think that Hospice Pharmacia does a wonderful
job helping the nursing staff to understand what can
sometimes make us feel so lost. Many thanks.”
Partnering Hospice Nurse
August, 2005
www.hospicepharmacia.com