AmerisourceBergen introduces several new solutions for health-system pharmacists
ANAHEIM, Calif. — AmerisourceBergen will feature several new solutions for health-system pharmacists at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition 2014, the wholesaler announced Tuesday.
“As a global healthcare solutions leader, we recognize the dynamic role that health-system pharmacists play in helping patients experience better outcomes and in shaping healthcare delivery. We are excited to showcase innovative solutions for increasing efficiency, improving patient care and strengthening financial performance,” said Chuck Ball, president of Health Systems for AmerisourceBergen.
The new capabilities being showcased at this year’s event include:
Pharmacy Unit Dose Plus: An extension of the existing Unit Dose line of individually packaged medicine that creates efficiency among hospital staff and helps pharmacy professionals focus on patient care. Unit Dose Plus focuses on lower volume and difficult-to-find items delivered in smaller pack sizes (30UD) to reduce waste and returns;
TARxGET Reporting: A web-based analysis and forecasting tool that enables hospitals and health systems to best manage inventory and control costs while maximizing the impact of medications on improved patient outcomes. Through state-of-the-art diagnostics capabilities, TARxGET Reporting uses pharmacy purchase data to identify areas of high drug spend, show key drivers of drug cost in specific drug and therapeutic categories and evaluate changes over time to measure the impact of medication utilization and inflation on purchase trends; and
RxWorks Pro: A hospital pharmacy software platform that automates workflow and inventory management functions to add efficiency to pharmacy operations. New features include an advanced analytics engine that provides users with intelligence on drug usage, stocking issues and trouble spots in drug spending; main-screen metrics that create detailed information on pharmacy operations; and upgraded reporting capabilities with detailed inventory, near-miss, and inventory-valuation reports. An intuitive user interface features up-to-the-minute pharmacy metrics as well as critical user alerts.
AmerisourceBergen also hosted Continuing Education courses for conference attendees. Featuring experts in the field, AmerisourceBergen’s CE courses included "Strategies for Building a Specialty Pharmacy," which was held Monday. Specialty pharmaceuticals have become the fastest growing segment of drug spending, but they present unique issues to health systems and health-system pharmacists. Rick Demers, director of Pharmacy, University of Pennsylvania; Todd Karpinski, executive director – chief pharmacy officer, Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin; and Scott Savage, associate director pharmacy, UNC Health Care - UNC Shared Services Center Pharmacy, discussed their specialty pharmacy programs in a panel moderated by Keith McGee, VP business development, US Bioservices, an AmerisourceBergen company;
On Wednesday, Dec. 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., AmerisourceBergen will host "Ambulatory Pharmacy: Understanding CMS Measures and the Connection to Accountable Care." As the healthcare system shifts to reward quality of care, pharmacists are more responsible than ever for impacting positive patient outcomes. David Nau, president of Pharmacy Quality Solutions will discuss CMS Star Measures and the impact of the new pay-for-performance model on hospital ambulatory pharmacy. Kevin Bisch, director of Outpatient Pharmacy at Mercy Pharmacy, will discuss programs he is implementing to address CMS Star Measure Performance and how those initiatives impact patient outcomes in a positive way.
Among the AmerisourceBergen network of businesses participating at ASHP will be colleagues with subject matter expertise representing a holistic set of solutions: distribution, technology, packaging, oncology, specialty, ambulatory pharmacy, transitional care, 340B, patient assistance and global manufacturing.