About 49 percent of the U.S. population receives employer-sponsored health insurance. The rising cost of pharmacy services is a major challenge facing organizations that are trying to manage the health of their workforce and lower their health care spend.

With the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) projecting prescription drug spending will outpace all other aspects of health care over the next decade, this issue is one that becomes more pressing every day.

Erin Smith, manager and senior pharmacist for the Cerner on-site pharmacies, shared with VISTA Today her expertise on the impact pharmacy costs have on organizations looking to manage the health of their workforce. She also provides some practical steps that organizations can take to help mitigate these costs.

Q: What can organizations do to address the rising costs of prescription drugs?

A: There’s a lot of different ways that employers can work to contain their drug spend. The easiest way to start is by ensuring the health plan is designed to incentivize employees to make decisions that can help lower costs. It can be something as simple as reducing the co-pay on generic medications or adding a prior authorization program to help facilitate the most cost-effective medication is being used.

Another step is to partner with a specialty medication distributor that tends to get better pricing on specialty medications, since their pharmacy teams are experts in the field. They’re able to monitor the patients more closely, help them with any issues, and aid in determining if the medications in which they are taking are the right ones to help them meet their goals.

The next strategy, which is near and dear to my heart, are on-site pharmacies. On-site pharmacies, which can be stand-alone or integrated into an organization’s on-site health center, typically have a dedicated pharmacy team that can work with providers to collaborate on cost-effective prescribing decisions. The pharmacists also work closely with employees to help them understand their medications and how to use them correctly to support lower costs and improved outcomes.

Lastly, having a team of care coordinators in place that can help employees better understand the benefits in the programs available to them can also have a positive impact on lowering costs. An employer can provide great health and well-being programs, but if employees aren’t using them, the organization might struggle to achieve the desired results.

Q: What results have you seen from organizations practicing the strategies you mentioned?

A: One of the first things we see is improved medication adherence. In addition, we’ve seen an increase in the use of generic medications within our pharmacies. This increase is partially because on-site pharmacists can talk with patients about the differences between generic and brand names, and why it’s okay to use a generic medication. As a best practice, our pharmacists collaborate with providers to explain to them why a generic option might work better. This focus on generic medications can help to better manage medication spend, but you need a team that’s willing to invest the time to have those conversations on behalf of your workforce.

Q: Do you have any predictions on where on the industry is heading?

A: Right now, there’s a big drive toward medication therapy management ─ pharmacists are spending more time interacting with patients one-on-one to help them better understand their health conditions and the medications used to manage them. Over the next five years, I think we’ll see more pharmacists move out from behind the counter, build relationships with patients, and play a bigger role in improving the affordability and quality of health care.

The Cerner near-site health network, Anuva Health, offers integrated pharmacy services to members. Click here to learn more about Anuva Health, which includes two on-site health centers in Chester County, in addition to virtual services for its members.

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