MX.com Brief - Healthcare News | March 15, 2012
Solution Spotlight: How a Drug Can Make a Difference
Welcome to The Brief, the MX.com newsletter to keep healthcare leaders and innovators informed on industry trends, MX.com and Solution and Seller developments.
In this issue:
- Solution Spotlight: How a Drug Can Make a Difference
- In The News
- Around the MX.com Roundtable
- Upcoming MX.com Webinars
- This Week's Poll: The Effects of Generic Drugs on Healthcare Costs
- MX.com - No Membership Fees...Ever
Industry Spotlight: How a Drug Can Make a Difference
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With March being National Kidney Health Month, the industry is spotlighting programs and facilities that specialize and champion kidney patient care. According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 26 million American adults have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and millions more are at risk.
In this month's issue of Pharmacy Practice News, the publication focuses on how hospitals and health systems can cut costs while improving patient care. The article Planning and Process Improvement Boost Health-System Savings, focuses on the use of Ferumoxytol, an Intravenous Iron Product often used to treat patients with CKD.
Ferumoxytol, approved in 2009 as an IV iron treatment, requires less preparation time, fewer patient visits, fewer hours per treatment than other IV iron treatments.
The article highlights an Ambulatory Infusion Clinic at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital, a 325-bed facility in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Pharmacists evaluated the operational and financial effects of the increased use of ferumoxytol for iron deficiency anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease.
"We decided to look at the total cost of each infusion and compare different drug regimens," Michael Meyers, PharmD, administrative director of pharmaceutical services at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital explained to Pharmacy Practice News. "This allowed us to consider efficiency regarding reimbursement and how we could improve chair turnover, which would allow us to treat more patients per day."
The pharmacists' evaluation and findings resulted in around 300 hours of freed chair time for other therapies in the bustling Wisconsin clinic, with potential revenue increase of more than $300,000 in just two years.
The Center for Drug Policy (CDP) at Partners HealthCare, the largest acute and non-acute health care network in New England, also recognized the financial and operational impact that the increased use of Ferumoxytol could make on their health system. They created a drug usage guideline for the IV Iron product and implemented the guideline at their 13 different hospitals and healthcare facilities with successful results.
Announcing the MX.com and HANYS Solutions Partnership
MX.com is proud to announce their partnership with HANYS Solutions, a subsidiary of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS). HANYS Solutions provides responsive, high-quality products and services that help health care providers: make sound business decisions, enhance their cost-effectiveness and efficiency, improve the quality of health and medical services, and meet changing patient and practitioner needs. This exciting partnership will introduce HANYS members to MX.com and offer the opportunities to share their innovations. If you are a HANYS member, keep an eye out for special MX offers & promotions.
Around the MX.com Roundtable
The Roundtable is the section of MX.com where industry leaders and innovators come together to discuss industry trends and hot topics.
The following article is currently featured on our site:
The High Cost of Counterfeit Medications
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that while less than 1 percent of medicines available in the developed world are likely to be counterfeit, globally, the figure is around 10%, and in some developing countries as much as
a third of medications are estimated to be fake. "Right now you have a situation where one shady wholesaler can introduce something and that can then pass through multiple actors in the system," said Allen Coukell, director of medical programs at the Pew Health Group and co-author of a counterfeit medicines report. "Once they've gone outside the legitimate supply chain they can't ...more.
Become a Roundtable Contributor. We are always looking to expand our editorial panel and submittal group. To become a Roundtable Contributor and motivate conversation between hospital executives, please contact our eNewsletter Editor, Editor@MX.com.
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High-Cost Drugs Guidelines Webinar
Prescription drugs constitute a substantial operating expense for hospitals, and make up more than 15% of national healthcare costs and are the leading driver in spiraling expenditures.
Industry research has shown that implementing guidelines before or at the time a new drug is available is highly recommended to maximize cost-avoidance opportunities.
Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care system founded by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, wanted to achieve control of pharmaceutical expenditures across their system and streamline the criteria for drug use system-wide. Through their internally developed drug guidelines, they saved an estimated $3.7 million in costs for existing drugs in a single fiscal year as well as avoided $800,000 in costs for new drugs in a single fiscal year.
The webinar focuses on Partners HealthCare's High-Cost Drugs Guidelines
and how implementing similiar guidelines can help your hospital:
- Improve Case-Based Reimbursement
- Help Control Inventory
- Avoid Complications from Medication and Dosage Errors
- Streamline Criteria for Drug Use Across the System
Save the Date
Join us in our complimentary High-Cost Drug Usage Guidelines Webinar as we discuss how Partners HealthCare's approach enables hospitals to improve case-based reimbursements, lessen the chances of inventory shortages and gain control of pharmaceutical costs. Presented by MX.com's Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE,
the webinar will highlight how implementing guidelines can improve the delivery and quality of patient care while lowering costs.
Webinar Details:
Date: Tuesday, March 27th
Time: 2:30pm Eastern
Duration: 45 Minutes
Cost: FREE
Presenter: MX.com's Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE
Registration is limited. Sign up now for what promises to be an informative and engaging discussion on patient and hospital safety and improving the quality of care.
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Reminder -
Hospitalists Engagement & Retention Survey Webinar:
Date: Wednesday, March 21st
Time: 1pm Eastern
Duration: 45 Minutes
Cost: FREE
Presenter: Eric E. Howell M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and MX.com's Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE
To register for this and other webinars, click here
Special Note: MX.com Webinars are open to providers and health systems. In order to register for this meeting, you must be a hospital, physician/provider or health system employee. We are not able to accommodate vendors or consultants at this time.
Brief Poll
The Effects of Generic Drugs on Healthcare Costs
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report earlier this month on the effect that generic drugs have on healthcare costs. According to the report, prescription drug spending more than tripled from 2001 and topped $307 billion in 2010, making up 12% of all healthcare spending in the United States. The report found that generic drugs were substituted for brand-name drugs 93% of the time in 2010.
Does your hospital or health system and its affiliated physician practices and clinics have a program in place to increase the utilization of generic medications?
• Yes, it is a standard practice. We are at financial risk for medication costs.
• Yes, we suggest it. We are NOT at financial risk for medication costs.
• Not yet, we want to develop one. We are moving towards a risk-type arrangement.
• Not yet, we want to develop one. It's good, efficient practice.
• No, we are not considering it at this time.
• I don't know.
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New Brief Feature: MX Community Poll
Starting next week, we will introduce our first MX Community Poll, a new monthly feature in the Brief. The Community Poll will be a quick poll, with questions that YOU, our loyal Brief readers, want to know the answer to. Our readership is comprised of thousands of hospital executives and industry leaders who are changing the landscape of healthcare. Do you have a question you'd like to ask our audience? Email your question and answer options to Polls@MX.com now.
Previous Poll Results:
And the Consensus Is...
Planning for Success
Every company and hospital, no matter how small, needs a working plan for the future that details where your company or hospital is now, where you want it to be and the strategy for growth. A business plan is a blueprint of the steps needed to build business and enables you to focus your efforts, set objectives and company direction.
Does your hospital have a disciplined approach to structured business plan utilization?
Chairman Post: Analysis of Last Week's Poll
Over 65% of our hospital respondents say that their hospital does not have a disciplined approach to structured business plan utilization.
What does this mean? Click to see last week's poll results and read our Chairman, Joseph Davis's thoughts on recent poll trends in our Chairman Post.
MX.com - No Membership Fees...Ever
Why register at MX.com?
MX.com is a distinct website where
healthcare leaders can learn and discuss the latest industry advancements and innovations, search, preview and review both free and Licensed Solutions, discover and rate the latest advancements in Apps and Resources.
All without membership fees.
As a member, you will be a part of innovative health care discussions, be given access to previews of upcoming and new Solutions, receive special invites to member-only webinars and important statistical data associated with Brief Polls and industry trends.
So the question becomes, why aren't you a member yet?
Become a member, for free, now: Register Now
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