NPC’s Westrich to Answer: Have ACO Medication Capabilities Improved?

NPC Vice President of Health Services Research Kimberly Westrich will discuss accountable care organizations’ (ACOs) current abilities in utilizing medications to achieve the best patient health outcomes during an educational session at the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute’s Annual Drug Benefit Conference on Tuesday, March 1, at 2:25 pm PT.

Ms. Westrich’s presentation builds off of a 2014 NPC research study that surveyed ACOs to examine their capabilities to support, monitor and assure appropriate medication use. The ACOs included in the study reported strong capabilities to manage medications in a few areas, but also reported room for improvement in others. 

Are ACOs ready to use medications to meet their financial and quality benchmarks?

 

Have ACOs’ capabilities changed since then? Ms. Westrich and Erik Krisle, research manager at Leavitt Partners and a study partner, will reveal preliminary results of the 2.0 version of the survey.

The second installment of the survey investigates:

• How do ACOs assess their current progress toward managing medications?
• What is the effect of medication management practices on ACO performance?
• What are the critical barriers to improving medication management?
• What are common practices of “high performing” ACOs?

Ms. Westrich also will share a toolkit of potential solutions, including improving quality measures, and implementing “best practice” ACO case studies on medication therapy management, an electronic drug alert program, and an electronic medication refill system. 

Register today to attend the event, which is located at the Westin Mission Hotel in Palm Springs, CA.