Debbie A comprehensive pharmacy analytics system can be one of the most potent tools a pharmacy can use to boost patient outcomes and improve operational efficiency. It can also help pharmacies increase their revenue and reduce costs.
An analyst should have a combination of clinical and analytical skill sets to be effective. This includes direct pharmacy experience, a background in data sciences or other technical expertise, and advanced training in strategic analytics.
Improve Patient Outcomes
A comprehensive pharmacy analytics program can help improve patient outcomes by bringing together a variety of factors, including clinical, behavioral, and financial. These data can be used in many ways, such as improving care delivery, treatment, and medication adherence.
Using data to understand patients’ medical needs is a growing trend, especially in the healthcare industry. This information can also help healthcare professionals learn more about managing the risks associated with different diseases and conditions.
Health systems are increasingly embracing the concept of healthcare as a value-based economy, where reimbursement is based on performance. By improving how they use data, health systems can maximize their revenue and margins as they shift to performance-based models.
To support this shift, the health system pharmacy department is becoming more of a revenue and margin generator and less of a cost center. By focusing on new opportunities, such as ambulatory, specialty, and mail-order pharmacy services, the pharmacy can impact the P&L of the entire health system.
For example, health-system specialty pharmacies offer high-quality, collaborative care to patients receiving complex prescription medications. Despite the benefits of this model, it faces several barriers, including payer restrictions that limit pharmacists’ ability to provide care and promote patient safety.
To address these barriers, Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy has developed a health outcomes and research program to evaluate and communicate the value of this integrated pharmacy model and advocate for recognition of the role of pharmacists in patient care. This research can help health systems and healthcare providers better understand and optimize the use of complex specialty drugs.
Reduce Costs
In an environment where hospitals face unprecedented financial pressures, leaders have increasingly focused on reducing costs. With a comprehensive pharmacy analytics system, health systems can identify and take action on thousands of pharmacy cost savings opportunities.
In addition, data can be used to improve patient care by examining medication-related quality metrics. This can be a highly effective tool for health systems, especially in value-based care and reimbursement models, to drive improvement in key performance indicators.
Health systems will need a more efficient pharmacy supply chain as industry consolidation increases. An integrated, scalable supply chain can help streamline workflow, improve productivity and tighten inventory management.
Additionally, a comprehensive pharmacy analytics system can monitor the quality of a health system’s pharmacy service delivery. This can provide insights into the impact of changes in network access, contract negotiations and payer performance.
A comprehensive pharmacy analytics system can be a powerful tool to improve patient care and help health systems increase revenue. It is also an excellent tool for capturing and leveraging additional business opportunities, including ambulatory and specialty pharmacy services.
Increase Revenue
Health systems are looking for ways to increase revenue to help offset the impact of drug shortages and rising healthcare costs. This is why they are looking for a comprehensive pharmacy analytics system to help them uncover value, deliver actionable insight, and drive cost-effective decision-making.
With a comprehensive pharmacy analytics solution, health systems can uncover and optimize drug usage and prescription volume by tracking critical clinical and financial metrics, including patient engagement, medication adherence, and medication utilization. They can then utilize these insights to increase revenue and improve patient care.
A robust pharmacy analytics program can also increase patient satisfaction by providing customers with better access to medications and services. For example, if a customer wants to purchase body care products, the pharmacist can suggest natural, organic options that experts have tested to ensure safety and efficacy.
Pharmacists can also be essential in advancing population health initiatives, improving access to point-of-care diagnostics and developing algorithms for clinical decision support and population health analytics. This is especially true for those working in independent community pharmacies and fully integrated delivery systems, where they can access more data than most other healthcare providers.
Many hospitals and health systems are rethinking the role of their pharmacy operations as more and more of the industry is transitioning into digital health. This means pharmacy departments must become more efficient and adapt to new technology. This is why health systems need a comprehensive pharmacy analytics system that can help reduce operational and financial costs while increasing the quality of service they provide to their patients.
Improve Patient Satisfaction
In addition to reducing costs, improving patient outcomes, and increasing revenue, a comprehensive pharmacy analytics system can increase patient satisfaction. As the healthcare system continues to move toward value-based payment models, it is more important than ever for pharmacy departments to embed analytics support into the department.
Embedded data management and analytics teams within healthcare departments can help to drive operational efficiency and support a data-driven culture throughout the organization. They can also help ensure that pharmacy data is analyzed and stored to support the department’s business intelligence and performance objectives.
Pharmaceutical services are integral to health care and require proper quality control to achieve optimal results. Several studies have shown that pharmacy services can be improved by improving the availability of medicines, upgrading premises and dispensary workflow, and ensuring patient privacy and dignity. Ensuring that these factors are met will significantly improve patient satisfaction.
