Originally published by our sister publication Specialty Pharmacy Continuum
By Gina Shaw
Hospital pharmacies facing significant growth (particularly in the ambulatory space), along with pressure from workforce shortages, are deploying technology and artificial intelligence solutions to manage that growth, said pharmacy leaders during a webinar on operational improvements for enterprise health systems hosted by Bluesight in September (the company announced three new product extensions at the ASHP Midyear 2024 Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, in New Orleans, related to diversion monitoring, inventory tracking and managing drug shortages in outpatient settings).
Ochsner Health, one of the leading not-for-profit healthcare providers in the Gulf South, has 46 hospitals, more than 370 health and urgent care centers, 22 retail pharmacies, two specialty pharmacies, and various home health and alternative sites of care for infusion. “We are 100% standardized with automated dispensing, electronic medical record and automated order sets,” said Chief Pharmacy Officer Debbie Simonson, PharmD.
By contrast, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Health is a smaller and more recently integrated health system, with 16 hospitals and six health professions colleges. The only academic health system in South Carolina, it has tripled in size within the past several years, said Marva Williams-Lowe, PharmD, the chief pharmacy officer for MUSC Health and associate dean for clinical affairs in the MUSC College of Pharmacy, in Charleston. “Pharmacy services across our enterprise has been a critical part of that evolution,” she said. “We’ve seen significant growth in our ambulatory and specialty programs, and we are very focused on transitions of care. Not only are we seeing a request for pharmacy within the health system walls, but also a growing focus on population health and requests from within our communities, and moving more toward a focus on preventative care.”
Ochsner’s pharmacy growth has been largely in the ambulatory space, Dr. Simonson noted. “Acute care in our 46 hospitals represents only 12% of my pharmacy spend today, while in the retail, specialty, and home infusion and alternate sites of care, we have a five-year compounded average revenue growth rate of 30%,” she said. “We have to figure out how to maintain quality when we are growing that fast, so we have been focusing a lot on leveraging technology and AI. What can we do to help our organization with some of their pain points?”
As an example, Ochsner is exploring the use of large language models to improve prior authorization workflow in the home hospital, retail and specialty space. “We want to use this technology to continue to grow without depending so much on labor,” Dr. Simonson said. “Because you can’t grow if you can’t find the people, and continuing to find the right people to be able to do this is a challenge.”
MUSC Health has developed an apprenticeship program for pharmacy technicians, a profession that represents one of its most significant workforce challenges. “We have created training programs and paths to assist with national certifications, maximizing career ladders,” Dr. Williams-Lowe said. “We also have a position that is dedicated specifically to technician recruitment and engagement, and through that role, we look at turnover rates and technician engagement. We have a system committee with technicians represented so that we can hear what their concerns are, to help us retain our workforce and expand the pipeline.”
Dr. Simonson is exploring AI chatbot solutions to manage inbound pharmacy calls. “I had looked at a couple previously, but they were just not scalable, but I am now considering another option,” she said. “We also have a technology that employs AI for our large patient assistance program along with our designated charitable pharmacy.” Standardization with these technologies is very important, she said. “I’d like to identify one program that can be used by everyone, whether it’s revenue cycle, patient assistance or charitable pharmacy.”
Dr. Simonson noted that an AI solution is already in place for prior authorization management in specialty pharmacy, which has cut time to PA approval to just minutes. “We’re trying to develop that same AI program for inpatient infusion, outpatient infusion and patients in the clinic, so that we have the same platform for all prior authorizations,” she said. “We use AI for other areas too, such as risk or diversion.”
MUSC Health is also using an AI solution for prior authorization in the infusion space, and is working to expand it across the specialty pharmacy. “We really value innovation,” Dr. Williams-Lowe said. “With workforce shortages, we want to improve efficiencies on manual tasks so that we can ensure that our valuable people resources are dedicated to clinical activities and improving patient outcomes.”
The speakers reported no relevant financial disclosures.
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