CVS Caremark, Dovetail Health partner to develop hospital readmission prevention program
WOONSOCKET, R.I., and NEEDHAM, Mass. — To curb avoidable hospital readmissions among seniors, CVS Caremark has teamed up with a provider of transitional care services to help these patients better manage and understand their medication regimens.
CVS Caremark said that its hospital readmission prevention program, codeveloped with Dovetail Health, will use risk stratification and predictive modeling to identify patients at greatest risk for hospital readmission. For patients that are deemed "high risk," a clinical pharmacist will visit them post-discharge to offer an in-home consultation which includes a comprehensive drug therapy review, care plan development to mitigate the greatest readmission risk factors such as chronic illness management, health coaching and care coordination with the patient's healthcare provider. CVS Caremark and Dovetail Health said that these patients will receive ongoing counseling support for up to 90 days to continue to monitor progress and encourage active participation in their treatment and adherence to their prescribed medication regimen.
Meanwhile, those patients identified to be at "moderate risk" will be targeted for a 90-day telephonic program that will include an initial comprehensive medication review by a pharmacist and ongoing care coordination with other healthcare providers.
CVS Caremark and Dovetail Health plan to initiate a pilot program in early 2012 and will make this offering available to CVS Caremark PBM clients later next year.
"Dovetail Health will help CVS Caremark clients deal with the high prevalence of hospital readmissions, which are costly and have a negative impact on members' health outcomes," CVS Caremark EVP and chief medical officer Troyen Brennan said. "Very often these patients are taking multiple medications and are trying to navigate a variety of treatment guidelines provided by their primary care physician and the hospital discharge team, all of which can complicate medication safety and adherence. Our research shows that the intervention of a clinical pharmacist helps patients better understand their medications and avoid potential barriers to recovery after coming home from the hospital."
According to industry research, 1-in-5 seniors are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, and nearly 70% of adverse health events that take place after hospital discharge are related to medication management issues.
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