MRT Innovations in Social Determinants of Health Initiative

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Q1 Please provide your contact information below.

Name

Title and Organization

Address

City/Town

State/Province

ZIP/Postal Code

Email Address

Phone Number

Dinesh Gambhir

Principal

196 N Belle Mead Rd

Setauket

NY

11733

dgambhir@ipncare.com

919–491–3448

Q2 Please describe your company or organizations overall goals and mission.

IPNCare seeks to improve the care provided by pharmacists, especially by putting in place collaboration with providers that allows for the attainment of VBP goals.

Q3 Please indicate which category your organization falls under.

Technology Solutions

Q4 Innovation Executive Summary. Please describe the innovation, and how it addresses the social determinants of health. Please identify how the innovation addresses the 6 innovation criteria (i.e. ROI, scalability, feasibility, evidence–based support for innovation, relevance to the Medicaid population and speed to market).

INNOVATION: Enhanced pharmacy services access system that allows providers to identify and use pharmacies that provide medication delivery, and extended instruction (counseling) on medication and device use, e.g., how to use an asthma inhaler vs. the typical "sign to waive counseling" enhanced services. Providers can request these services on the system and (later) verify that medication delivery happened, and results of the instruction provided on patient understanding and proper use of medication/device.

ROI DELIVERY: Patients w/o transportation can´t access medication; resulting in poor outcomes, lack of disease control and possible ED visits or hospitalization. Patient w/o transportation may use Medicaid paid transportation to and from the pharmacy at a typical cost of $7 to $10 each way. Pharmacy delivery eliminates both the poor outcomes including ED visits and hospitalization and Medicaid paid transportation monies.

ROI COUNSELING: Most patients do not receive counseling due to many pharmacies emphasis on dispense and collect payment. For patients in Medicaid populations, this is particularly harmful due to a higher prevalence of language and literacy deficiencies.

Pharmacist–provided education´s ability to improve adherence rates and patient understanding is evidence–based (JAMA Role of Pharmacist Counseling in Preventing Adverse Drug Events After Hospitalization, 3/3/2006, NABP summary article). Indeed, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program recognizes the need for pharmaceutical care (counseling) to improve asthma control and outcomes. ROI from counseling is better disease control, better health, and fewer ED visits and Hospitalizations.

FEASIBILITY: The enhanced pharmacy services access system is online and available for review. The system has the support of the various NY pharmacy associations and the sponsoring organization, IPNCare has been recognized by the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York. And pharmacies have signed up to provide the enhanced services. (Note: for distances beyond their normal service area some pharmacies have indicated they will charge a nominal fee, e.g., $4 for delivery)

SCALABILITY: The system hosted on Amazon Web Services and is accessible over any internet browsers. Providers need only sign an access agreement. For pharmacists, there is no change in their workflow or IT systems; as any changes that may be required are taken care of transparently between prescription management system vendors and IPNCare.

Q5 Was your innovation implemented? If so, please explain when, the number of people impacted, and the results.

Yes (please specify when and the estimated number of people impacted):

The system is online. It has been successfully tested with multiple pharmacies and shown to work. The system is now ready for scaling to broad deployment.

Q6 Please identify the SDH Domain that your innovation addresses. (Select all that apply.)

Education,

Health and Health Care

Economic Stability

Q7 I give the Department of Health the right to share the information submitted in this application publicly (for example: on the DOH website). I understand that there is no monetary reward/reimbursement for my submission or for attending the summit should my innovation be selected.

I consent to have my innovation shared