Pharmacists Critical to Success in Value-Based Care

The role of health system pharmacists is expanding under value-based care. In this interview, Dr. Tina Moen of IBM Watson Health discusses the role that pharmacists can play both at the bedside and in conversations about population health to help improve outcomes and reduce costs.

Tina Moen, PharmD, has spent the last 15 years in the healthcare information technology industry providing clinical leadership to

colleagues and clients in the US and abroad. At IBM Watson Health, she has a leadership role in value-based care, evidence-based medicine and life sciences.

TM: When we think about value-based care and its goal of lowering costs while optimizing outcomes, we should remember that most hospital patients are prescribed at least one medication. Many – particularly those with chronic or complex conditions – have 10 or 15 prescribed medications. Given this dynamic, the pharmacist plays a crucial role as the medication expert. It's important to bring pharmacists into the collaborative care conversation early on, allowing them to take ownership of the

optimization of a patient's medication regimen. Early collaboration is critical to figure out what works best, from

an efficacy and outcomes perspective, but also thinking about cost-effectiveness for the patient and the health system.

TM: Pharmacists have a great opportunity to look at how medication management strategies are working at the population level, which can inform and shape health system policies in tandem with physicians and nurses throughout the care continuum. For example, how do we most effectively treat patients with heart disease, and what kinds of medication strategies are effective? Where

have we seen less effectiveness, and can we identify areas for a different approach? Including pharmacists in the optimization of medication therapy guidelines for a population enriches the outcome by capitalizing on training and expertise from across the care team.

TM: There's definitely a role for AI in the pharmacy industry. It's going to be our job at IBM Watson Health, along with our industry partners, to talk about the big problems that aren't being effectively solved right now– what kinds of data we need more insight into, and what kind of knowledge we want to combine with the data to highlight new insights. For example, data on dispensing could be combined with primary literature, outcomes and demographics data to better understand the impact of medication decisions.

TM: Years ago, pharmacy was a revenue driver rather than a cost center, but that has shifted. Still, pharmacy can impact a hospital's market share by adding a human touch to medication management, as more and more pharmacists are deployed bedside and after discharge. Patients get overwhelmed when they have a multitude of medications. Patient concerns can lead to non-adherence or inappropriate use, so pharmacists play a crucial role in making patients feel comfortable with their regimen.