Maximizing the Use of EQUIPP
to Remain Competitive
Learn how EPIC Pharmacies Ensures High-Quality Patient Care.
Member-owned and operated, EPIC Rx and its PSAO network provides flexible solutions and hands-on resources so pharmacy members can preserve their independence while providing top-quality patient care for their communities and remain competitive in the marketplace.
Claire Schrunk, PharmD, Director of Clinical Pharmacy Operations at EPIC Pharmacies, Inc., is tasked with connecting EPIC’s network of independent pharmacies to technology and services that monitor medication adherence. EQUIPP provides a solution for pharmacies to monitor medication adherence performance measurement scores and find ways to improve medication management. Over the past 16 months, EPIC Pharmacies have improved their engagement rates with EQUIPP by 125 percent and pharmacies are reaping the financial rewards of their commitment to quality.
The Financial Impact of EQUIPP
“From a financial perspective, you know, every single penny is absolutely crucial to independent pharmacies, especially in the current landscape that we’re in, and the pharmacies that utilize EQUIPP, they reap the benefits from that.”
Schrunk explains that EQUIPP provides value to the company as an organization as well as its independent pharmacies. She goes on to say, “I’ve had a few stores tell me that they were actually able to keep their pharmacy doors open from taking advantage of these opportunities and really utilizing EQUIPP to increase their adherence scores.”
Improved adherence scores can lead to improved patient satisfaction. She feels that ultimately, pharmacists feel rewarded for serving their patients and optimizing their health and medication regimens.
“From a financial perspective, you know, every single penny is absolutely crucial to independent pharmacies, especially in the current landscape that we’re in, and the pharmacies that utilize EQUIPP, they reap the benefits from that.”
EPIC Tips to Tackle Enhanced Services Opportunities
“I do meet with our stores and let them know, hey, EQUIPP has this text message reminder program where they will alert you to those opportunities when they come your way. And the most common response that I do get is absolutely. I will take all of the reminders that I can get so I think, you know, from hearing directly from stores, those touchpoints just help increase the engagement overall and ultimately help their patients in maintaining their health medications and their medication regimens.”
Claire Schrunk offers up some helpful tips that EPIC Pharmacies are currently implementing when handling Enhanced Services Opportunities.
- Printing out the list of eligible patients and placing that list at different workflow stations within the pharmacy, whether that’s at pick up, at drop off, at the pharmacist station or in the counseling room, having those patients identified at different touchpoints increases engagement from the pharmacy staff. For example, when pharmacists are verifying prescriptions, they check that list of patients and write on those receipts the actions that should be taken.
- Put a note into the computer system. When the patient comes to pick up their prescription, that note will populate, alerting that pharmacy employee that the patient is eligible for a blood pressure reading.
- Take advantage of the text message reminders that EQUIPP offers. These reminders are sent frequently alerting the pharmacy of the open clinical care opportunities for the pharmacy ensuring each eligible patient intervention is performed.
How EPIC Pharmacies Can Engage the Patient
Claire also offers some advice for pharmacies to better engage with their patients about available enhanced services opportunities like blood pressure readings or taking A1c tests at the pharmacy.
- When the patient comes to pick up a prescription, the technician or the pharmacist can walk them over to a blood pressure machine or use an automatic cuff behind the counter and get the reading documented.
- Calling patients about bp screenings and A1c is also effective.
- Offering enhanced clinical services while giving immunizations is another useful strategy.
Schrunk adds, “You know, when a patient comes in to get a vaccine, they can review that patient list that’s already in the counseling room, and you can knock out two birds with one stone there.”
Medication Adherence in EQUIPP
Schrunk emphasizes that understanding the foundational components of medication adherence will lead to better outcomes for patients and can ultimately help the pharmacy’s financial health.
“I’ve seen situations where pharmacies may try to implement, two, three, four different avenues to help increase their bottom line when really, focusing on that adherence component and utilizing EQUIPP to do that could help them get there, just as easily,” says Schrunk.
Making Value-based Quality Programs Work
Enhanced Services programs are available in EQUIPP, and pharmacists are able to be incentivized for their primary care services through these value-based programs. Claire believes there are three aspects that must be addressed by the health plans for independent pharmacies to succeed in these programs.
“So I think there are three components that really make up a meaningful and sustainable quality program. In no particular order, because I think they are all three equally as important, but I would definitely say number one, having reliable and consistent data. Number two, the program must be easy and intuitive for users to use. Number three, the incentive component also must be there.
Pharmacists are superheroes and they deserve to be treated and rewarded as such.”
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