June 22, 2010 – The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) drive to integrate evidence-based pharmacy services into care for high-risk, high-cost patients is getting a major boost from one of the public-private partnership’s main members.
Under the leadership of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation, the groups involved are forming a private, nonprofit corporation to raise funds for the Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative (PSPC) and keep it going beyond its originally planned 18-month lifespan. The new organization will be called the PSCP Public/Private Alliance and will formally incorporate not long after its founding directors meet for the first time later this month. The foundation belongs to PSPC’s 150-member leadership council along with dozens of other groups representing patients, providers, academia, philanthropy, government and industry.
PSCP is currently funded by HRSA. Launched two years ago, the collaborative is made up of 110 community-based, multidisciplinary teams of pharmacists and other health professionals working together to reduce medical errors and improve outcomes through better selection and use of medications.
Its goals echo those in the new health care reform law calling for more research on the clinical effectiveness of medical treatments. The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other non-government organizations have likewise been promoting research-validated best practices in care, typically focused on patients with chronic diseases and conditions.
During the first two phases of the PSPC effort, teams composed mainly of primary care physicians, quality improvement staff, administrators and pharmacists have focused on small groups of high-risk, high-cost patients. During the third stage that begins this fall, teams will work to apply what they have learned to larger patient groups. The deadline for enrollment in phase three is July 30.
Each phase of the PSPC effort begins with a learning session followed by an implementation period, during which the teams measure and chart intervention outcomes. Those lessons, which are shared widely among participants, then feed into the following phase.
Providers Urged to Join
Krista Pedley, the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) official who oversees PSCP, says 340B providers have much to gain by participating in the collaborative. They can improve patient outcomes, increase physician productivity, and cut costs by reducing emergency room visits and patient admissions, she notes.
Most importantly, providers should participate “because it is a mechanism to share their best practices in integrating clinical pharmacy services throughout the health care model and because it is the right thing for their patients,” Pedley says.
“What really impresses me about the collaborative is the degree of multidisciplinary collaboration on patient safety and outcomes,” adds William Ellis, executive director and chief executive of the APhA Foundation. “There’s a lot of fragmentation in our health care system, and the participants are really breaking down the silos.”
Ellis says the new nonprofit group does not envision itself becoming PSCP’s sole funding source. It could, however, provide the initiative with a permanent home at some point down the road if stakeholders agree that’s the wisest choice. Disseminating the collaborative’s findings will be one of its biggest initial jobs.
Ellis says the group has not set any fundraising targets. He said it will solicit support from corporations and other philanthropies, among others.
“All of that has yet to be determined,” he says. “But just having the alliance structure in place is good news for patients.”