The Alliance for Long-Term Care Pharmacy @ Home debuts

More than 20 pharmacies, professional associations and care management groups have joined forces to launch The Alliance for Long-Term Care Pharmacy @ Home, a collaborative effort to improve the care provided to individuals with complex medical needs living in the community.

“While most long-term care facilities have pharmacy services provided to their residents, less than 5% of home health agencies have a pharmacy affiliation, placing patients receiving care at home at higher risk of adverse drug reactions, lapses in medication adherence and other poor health outcomes. By appropriately aligning incentives in federal policy, The Alliance aims to expand access to care and improve outcomes for home- and community-based patients who are disproportionately susceptible to healthcare challenges,” the organization said.

“Every year, hundreds-of-billions in U.S. healthcare spending is related to preventable hospitalizations associated with adverse drug interactions, particularly among individuals living with disabilities or multiple chronic conditions,” said Chad Worz, CEO of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. “Long-term care pharmacists are uniquely positioned to mitigate these risks and lower health care costs for these medically complex patients.”

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“Modern advancements in medicine have made it more practical than ever to treat patients with chronic health care needs in the comfort of their own homes. These advances, when coupled with appropriate coordinated care, allow patients to remain as active parts of their community,” said TJ Griffin, chief pharmacy officer at PharMerica. “The Alliance will work to align policy incentives to provide essential pharmacy services to this growing population of community-based patients.”

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