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October 30, 2023
The 2023 MGMA Leaders Conference in Nashville, TN, was a major event for the healthcare industry, bringing together leaders from all over the country to discuss the most pressing issues facing the profession today. Three themes our team picked up on as conference participants were the healthcare worker shortage, value-based care, and using data to make decisions in healthcare practices.
The healthcare worker shortage is here to stay:
The healthcare worker shortage is a major crisis facing the United States today. In a study published in November 2022, for nursing alone, the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects an RN shortage of more than 78 thousand full-time nurses by 2025, while the American Hospital Association points to a shortage of 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2033. The aging population, the retirement of baby boomers, and the increasing demand for healthcare services are partly to blame.
At the MGMA Leaders Conference, attendees discussed a number of strategies for addressing the healthcare worker shortage. These strategies included:
- Investing in healthcare education: One of the best ways to address the healthcare worker shortage is to invest in healthcare education. This includes increasing the number of residency slots available to medical students, providing financial assistance to medical students and nursing students, and making it easier for allied health workers, such as medical assistants, to get on-the-job training.
- Improving working conditions for healthcare workers: Seek operational interventions and reduce administrative burdens by investing in technology such as pVerify’s Insurance Eligibility Business Rules Engine. By improving processes, reducing manual tasks, and focusing on efficiency, staff will feel more in control of their day. It’s also important to provide more support for mental health and well-being across the practice. Take care of those who take care of us.
- Expanding the role of non-physician providers and staff: Non-physician providers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, can play a vital role in addressing the healthcare worker shortage. Expanding the role of non-physician providers can help to increase access to care and reduce the workload on physicians. You can also train your allied health staff, such as medical assistants, patient care technicians, and others to become “utility players” across the practice.
Value-based care is having a moment:
Value-based care is a healthcare delivery model that focuses on improving the quality of care while reducing costs. Providers are paid for the value of the care they provide rather than the volume of services they deliver. The acceptance of Value-based care has ebbed and flowed over the last few years, and the industry has been slow to change, but adoption seems to again be on the rise.
At the MGMA conference, attendees discussed the challenges and opportunities of value-based care. Some of the challenges include:
- Data integration: Value-based care requires providers to have access to accurate and timely data about their patients’ health and healthcare costs. However, many providers struggle to integrate data from different systems. We can’t make it harder on the provider. Easy integrations will be key.This is how DoseSpot integrates Real-Time Prescription Benefit straight into the EHR─no additional screens, passwords, or new click paths to find patient and plan-specific medication costs.
- Risk management: Value-based care often involves taking on financial risk. Providers need to be able to assess their risk and develop strategies to mitigate it accurately.
- Care coordination: Value-based care requires providers to coordinate care with other providers, such as hospitals, specialists, and skilled nursing facilities. This can be challenging, especially in fragmented healthcare systems.
Despite the challenges, value-based care offers many opportunities for positive change, including helping providers improve the quality of care they provide, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction. These are also things that can be measured throughout the healthcare lifecycle. Medicare and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) continue to show promise in both dollar savings and high-quality care.
Using data to make decisions in healthcare practices is good business:
Data is playing an increasingly important role in healthcare. Providers are using it to make decisions about everything from patient care to population health management. As reported in a conference session led by MGMA and a consulting group, 82% of healthcare leaders have acknowledged that they have used benchmark data to make business decisions in 2023.
At the MGMA conference, attendees discussed a number of ways that providers can use data to make better decisions. Some of these ways include:
- Using data to identify high-risk patients: Providers can use data to identify patients who are at high risk for developing chronic diseases or experiencing adverse events. This information can be used to develop targeted interventions to prevent these problems.
- Using data to improve care quality: Providers can use data to track their performance on quality measures and identify areas where they can improve. This information can be used to develop quality improvement initiatives. Reporting data can also help track prescribing behaviors across your organization to identify areas for improvement when it comes to medication affordability, gaps in care due to prior authorization, and even risk assessments and compliance for controlled substances.
- Using data to manage population health: Providers can use data to understand the health needs of their patient population and develop strategies to improve the overall health of the population. This information can be used to develop population health management programs.
Having the opportunity to connect with hundreds of healthcare professionals, both on the clinical and operational side of healthcare, is invaluable. Learning about the latest trends in practice management is one more way that DoseSpot continues to pour into our products and make them better.
We have a relentless drive to improve workflow efficiencies and deliver products that are so intuitive and easy to use that they simply fade into the background of “getting the job done,” allowing patients to experience exceptional healthcare from start to finish. Continuing to evolve is critical to the future of an industry where change is constant.
Are you ready to learn more? Request a demo here.
“Medication management is a core competency for hospice care, and there are special considerations when you’re dealing with disease progression and changes in how patients’ systems metabolize certain drugs. Part of our role as a hospice-focused pharmacy benefit manager is helping our clients maximize comfort and safety. I always recommend leveraging technology to provide maximum visibility of patient medications for the hospice interdisciplinary team.”
Enclara Pharmacia, VP of Clinical Management – Ryan Krout, PharmD
Preventing medication errors for hospice patients
Typically, medication errors in hospice care are 0.1-1.0%. This is lower than the overall incidence of medication errors in healthcare settings, estimated at 2-10%. But, if your loved one is in hospice care, any error is too many.
The importance of getting the medication right for hospice patients cannot be overstated. Errors can have serious consequences, including pain, discomfort, and even premature death.
The most common of these can all be solved with ePrescribing:
| Error Type | How ePrescribing Helps |
| Dosage errors: When the wrong dose of a medication is prescribed | Look for ePrescribing tools with a dosage calculator available within the application or easily accessible |
| Administration errors: When a medication is given incorrectly, such as at the wrong time or by the wrong route | ePrescribing includes specific fields for prescriber notes where clear directions can be entered for the patient and then translated through the pharmacy with a medication consultation |
| Transcribing errors: When the medication order is incorrectly transcribed | The handwriting mystery is solved with the electronic transmission of a script directly to the pharmacy |
| Dispensing errors: When a medication is dispensed incorrectly, such as the wrong medication or the wrong strength | Although this type of error often happens at the pharmacy, ePrescribing leaves less room for miscommunication or misspellings of drug names, which can lead to dispensing errors |
“Hospice care is 24/7, and when you’re dealing with emergent needs it’s a race against the clock,” Krout said. “Hospices need to have systems and safeguards in place to ensure they’re getting the right medication to the right patient in the timeliest manner possible.”
You must implement a culture of safety in all patient interactions. Here are some additional things that your care teams can do to help get medication right for hospice patients:
- Develop a system for tracking medication orders and deliveries
With DoseSpot, this tracking system is built into your software. You will be able to see every prescription transmission and whether the pharmacy received it. It will also alert you to transmission errors. - Implement regular audits of medication orders and deliveries
DoseSpot has more than ten report types to understand and monitor prescriber behavior across the prescribing application. It also has the reporting necessary to meet the requirements of DEA audits for EPCS. - Provide training to staff on medication safety
Help your staff understand and proactively acknowledge red flags when they are presented.
Hospice pharmacies play a vital role in medication management and safe prescribing practices
Hospice pharmacies specialize in providing medications to patients who are receiving hospice care. They work directly with providers to ensure patients can access the medications they need to manage their symptoms and stay comfortable.
As experts in this form of healthcare, they do more than just dispense and deliver medications. Here are some additional benefits of a hospice pharmacy to the total healthcare landscape:
- Expertise: Hospice pharmacists have specialized training in prescribing medication to patients receiving hospice care. They are familiar with the medications that are typically used in hospice care and the side effects that can occur.
- Convenience: Hospice pharmacies can deliver medications to patients’ homes or other locations. This can be a convenient option for patients unable to travel to a pharmacy.
- Support: Hospice pharmacists offer support to patients and their caregivers. They can answer medication questions, provide emotional support, and help families and caregivers navigate the healthcare system.
According to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, hospice pharmacies dispense an average of 1.5 times more controlled substances than regular pharmacies due to the amount of pain medications prescribed. They also dispense a higher proportion of highly addictive and tightly controlled Schedule II substances than regular pharmacies. Most states now require a trackable ePrescribing platform for these prescriptions.
The clinical staff at these pharmacies also have a responsibility to help prevent medication errors, prescribe responsibly, and prevent the diversion of controlled substances.
At DoseSpot, we will continue working to provide the very best end-to-end ePrescribing platform that helps to prevent medication errors and ensure patients receive high-quality care. Request a demo if you want to see our ePrescribing software in action!