Transforming Care by
Engaging Patients
Discover how a regional pharmacy chain is transforming operations and boosting medication adherence.
Natalie K. Powers, PharmD, R.Ph., BCMTMS, leads MTM and Clinical Operations at Kinney Drugs, a chain with nearly 100 locations across New York and Vermont. Natalie and her team are transforming their pharmacy operations and improving medication adherence by leveraging EQUIPP to streamline processes and drive results.
Here’s a glimpse into their success story.
Using EQUIPP
Kinney Drugs uses EQUIPP to monitor quality measure scores and benchmark their performance against other pharmacies serving similar health plan populations. This competitive edge fuels their drive for excellence.
Natalie Powers states, “I get an email from EQUIPP saying that the dashboard updated, and sometimes I literally run to my computer to see what our stats are.”
“My team does the same thing. We cannot chat with each other fast enough about what our numbers look like, and I feel like that’s the number one thing that you have to have. When you’re creating these programs, you have to have the motivation and the drive to be successful. And so yes, we are very competitive.”
Powers explains how using EQUIPP resources, like video tutorials, can be helpful in understanding the amount of data that EQUIPP provides. By focusing on patient opportunities, the pharmacy team can reach out to non-adherent patients, work with them to improve their medication adherence, and in return improve their pharmacies’ PDC scores and increase pharmacy reimbursement.
“So, engaging with the EQUIPP Enhanced Services, it’s really been fulfilling for our teams…. to provide our patients with that one on one education and support and then watch their PDC scores improve month over month knowing that we made a difference in their health outcome. It really brings so much joy to our team. And on the flip side, our patients love how much we care about them.”
Engage Enhanced Services Patients
“So this service (Enhanced Services) has only given us more data and more information around what our patients need help with, you know what they need help with from an adherence standpoint, and we’ve been able to provide that to them.”
QUIPP Enhanced Services allows pharmacists to help directly impact medication adherence on PDC measures and close clinical gaps in care such as providing blood pressure screenings to monitor hypertension.
Powers explains that engaging with EQUIPP Enhanced Services patients involves strategy with outreach. “I thought maybe they would be annoyed that we were calling them and seeing why they didn’t refill their blood pressure medicine on time. But truly, at the end of the day, we have so many customers that are like, thank you for calling me. Thank you for caring about me.”
The approach can depend on the situation, and it’s important to note that what works in one pharmacy might not work in another pharmacy. Populations are different in each Kinney Drugs location. Outreach also varies per patient.
Powers adds, “There’s patients who prefer calls, patients who prefer text messages, patients who save our phone number and call us every day. You know, there’s just so many different approaches that you can take. We truly care about our patients, and we truly care about their health outcomes.”
Health Plans Partnering with Pharmacies in EQUIPP
When asked about getting more Health Plans to create Enhanced Services programs in EQUIPP, Powers responded, “My recommendation is please do it. Please partner with us, give us the opportunities. Pharmacies are so accessible and we’re so valued and respected in the community and we can really make such a big difference in the health outcomes of a patient.”
Powers further added the value of pharmacists to reach Health Plan goals. “So I don’t care if it’s a comprehensive medication review or a targeted intervention, we’re doing. Providing a vaccination, maybe taking somebody’s blood pressure or A1c, or filling a lifesaving medication, we can, and we do make a difference every day.”
“So my advice is work with us to help achieve your goals. We want you to achieve your goals, and at the same time, will work to create a program to ensure that we can find success together in whatever you’re looking to provide. So together, let’s invest in our patients and improve the health outcomes. Is what my biggest beg would be.”
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