Identifying patient care opportunities and improving performance
In the weeks leading up to Cardinal Health RBC 2017, DSN sat down with Cardinal Health’s director of reimbursement solutions Jeff Monroe to talk about the company’s latest Reimbursement Consulting Services (RCS) dashboard, as well as its Central Pay and Reconciliation customer platforms, and how these solutions are enabling pharmacies to better identify additional patient care opportunities, improve medication adherence and drive performance against the CMS Star Quality Measures.
DSN: How can the RCS dashboard help pharmacies identify medication adherence opportunities, as well as help with patients aging into Medicare?
Jeff Monroe: RCS customers are able to identify and target specific patients visiting their stores who are impacting their CMS Star Measure performance for blood pressure or cholesterol medication adherence. By understanding which patients are part of the measures, stores can see which patients most need their assistance and how those patients contribute to their stores’ overall performance on CMS Star Rating metrics.
Additionally, customers of our PSAO Services can easily identify patients who are aging into Medicare by utilizing special reporting tools provided by RCS. These reports help both RCS customers and PSAO members understand which patients should be consulted about how to choose a Medicare Part D plan that is right for them, which should allow them to continue to utilize the pharmacy of their choice without disruption once they have been enrolled.
DSN: We understand that Cardinal has new Recon and Central Pay platforms. Can you tell us more about what to expect from the new platforms?
Monroe: We believe the new platforms have excellent transparency, visibility and support for our customers. Central Pay is now online, and reporting for direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) and store-level adjustments are also available online. And Cardinal Health teams have access to all payment and remittance data.
The user experience is friendly and intuitive for customers, with easy-to-use tools like their ‘Daily Dash’ which shows their deposits and outstanding accounts receivable; and single sign-on capabilities that integrate with Order Express and RCS.
The new site has a mobile-friendly design, true month-end reporting, multi-store functionality and roll-up capabilities. Additionally, more electronic payers are available in Reconciliation and there are full service options for an additional charge.
DSN: What about the total functionality of the Central Pay and Reconciliation platforms, and how the two work together through the RCS dashboard? What benefits does this bring to the pharmacy?
Monroe: RCS and the new Central Pay platform are now able to interact with one another in many ways.
RCS customers who also are enrolled in the new Central Pay and Reconciliation platforms can quickly and easily see their most recent daily and weekly deposits, as well as cash-influx comparisons to previous months and year-to-date. Customers who utilize Reconciliation can see similar comparisons to the kinds of claims reconciled when matched with the pharmacy’s adjudicated claims.
With this integrated functionality, stores can access many of their pharmacy’s pulse points from a single platform. RCS will also have the data for enrolled customers to see all aspects of a pharmacy claim, its payment and when it’s been adjudicated by the store, thereby giving stores excellent visibility around such areas as revenue, true margin and accounts receivable.
DSN: How can pharmacies take advantage of the full functionality of the RCS Dashboard?
Monroe: To take advantage of the full functionality of the RCS Dashboard, customers are encouraged to make accessing the dashboard part of their daily workflow, and to leverage the advice and guidance given by their assigned RCS consultant. The RCS consultant is a tremendous resource for the customer and often functions as an additional employee within the store, understanding industry priorities and challenges to help stores become more efficient, and to maximize the value achieved in the program.
DSN: How do the improvements impact patient care?
Monroe: Using the Patient Performance tool, stores effectively can become an active participant in helping to increase patient medication adherence measures for several chronic disease states. A better understanding of how keeping those patients adherent helps maintain a healthy patient base, and thereby helps lower the chance of hospital readmissions
DSN: What can customers expect to see at Cardinal Health RBC 2017?
Monroe: In the Recon booth, we’ll be walking folks through our new solutions and key functionalities, including true month-end reporting with daily updates; the new, full-service offering with a dedicated advisor; multi-store and rollup capabilities; the mobile-friendly design and texting features; single sign-on functionality; and improved direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) transparency and reporting.
DSN: How can the RCS dashboard help pharmacies identify medication adherence opportunities, as well as help with patients aging into Medicare?
Jeff Monroe: RCS customers are able to identify and target specific patients visiting their stores who are impacting their CMS Star Measure performance for blood pressure or cholesterol medication adherence. By understanding which patients are part of the measures, stores can see which patients most need their assistance and how those patients contribute to their stores’ overall performance on CMS Star Rating metrics.Additionally, customers of our PSAO Services can easily identify patients who are aging into Medicare by utilizing special reporting tools provided by RCS. These reports help both RCS customers and PSAO members understand which patients should be consulted about how to choose a Medicare Part D plan that is right for them, which should allow them to continue to utilize the pharmacy of their choice without disruption once they have been enrolled.
DSN: We understand that Cardinal has new Recon and Central Pay platforms. Can you tell us more about what to expect from the new platforms?
Monroe: We believe the new platforms have excellent transparency, visibility and support for our customers. Central Pay is now online, and reporting for direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) and store-level adjustments are also available online. And Cardinal Health teams have access to all payment and remittance data.
The user experience is friendly and intuitive for customers, with easy-to-use tools like their ‘Daily Dash’ which shows their deposits and outstanding accounts receivable; and single sign-on capabilities that integrate with Order Express and RCS.
The new site has a mobile-friendly design, true month-end reporting, multi-store functionality and roll-up capabilities. Additionally, more electronic payers are available in Reconciliation and there are full service options for an additional charge.
DSN: What about the total functionality of the Central Pay and Reconciliation platforms, and how the two work together through the RCS dashboard? What benefits does this bring to the pharmacy?
Monroe: RCS and the new Central Pay platform are now able to interact with one another in many ways.
RCS customers who also are enrolled in the new Central Pay and Reconciliation platforms can quickly and easily see their most recent daily and weekly deposits, as well as cash-influx comparisons to previous months and year-to-date. Customers who utilize Reconciliation can see similar comparisons to the kinds of claims reconciled when matched with the pharmacy’s adjudicated claims.
With this integrated functionality, stores can access many of their pharmacy’s pulse points from a single platform. RCS will also have the data for enrolled customers to see all aspects of a pharmacy claim, its payment and when it’s been adjudicated by the store, thereby giving stores excellent visibility around such areas as revenue, true margin and accounts receivable.
DSN: How can pharmacies take advantage of the full functionality of the RCS Dashboard?
Monroe: To take advantage of the full functionality of the RCS Dashboard, customers are encouraged to make accessing the dashboard part of their daily workflow, and to leverage the advice and guidance given by their assigned RCS consultant. The RCS consultant is a tremendous resource for the customer and often functions as an additional employee within the store, understanding industry priorities and challenges to help stores become more efficient, and to maximize the value achieved in the program.
DSN: How do the improvements impact patient care?
Monroe: Using the Patient Performance tool, stores effectively can become an active participant in helping to increase patient medication adherence measures for several chronic disease states. A better understanding of how keeping those patients adherent helps maintain a healthy patient base, and thereby helps lower the chance of hospital readmissions
DSN: What can customers expect to see at Cardinal Health RBC 2017?
Monroe: In the Recon booth, we’ll be walking folks through our new solutions and key functionalities, including true month-end reporting with daily updates; the new, full-service offering with a dedicated advisor; multi-store and rollup capabilities; the mobile-friendly design and texting features; single sign-on functionality; and improved direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) transparency and reporting.