PQS Quality Corner Show

How U-Save-It Pharmacies Use EQUIPP

PQS Season 5 Episode 6

The Quality Corner Show sits down with U-Save-It Pharmacy co-owners to talk about how they use EQUIPP in a management setting for all 46 of their pharmacies.

Joining us on this podcast episode:
Tommy Sharpe, CEO, Crowe's Management, VP/Co-Owner U-Save-It Pharmacies/Buy-Rite Drugs

Ashley Kunkle, PharmD, Chief Officer of Pharmacy Operations, Crowe's Management, Co-Owner, U-Save-It Pharmacies

and

Lori McLean, PharmD, Manager of Pharmacy Operations, Crowe's Management, Third Party Contract Specialist, Crowe's Management, Co-Owner, U-Save-It Pharmacies


PQS Senior Manager, Pharmacy Training and Support, Brittany Boyd, MHA, interviews this U-Save-It team about how EQUIPP and Enhanced Services programs are helping to drive business success and successful patient outcomes. 

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For for years and years.

 

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You know, historically the pharmacist,

when they measure the most critical,

 

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professions in our economy always ranks

 

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in the top five of any profession.

 

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I think the value that EQUIPP

 

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can bring in some of these rating scores

that they can bring is

 

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if they can tie in measurable ways

to practice pharmacy in a healthy way.

 

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That's good for the patient.

 

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we want to use technology

in an efficient way,

 

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but never lose sight of the reason

why we want to be here,

 

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which is the art of practicing pharmacy.

 

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Welcome to the Pharmacy Quality Solutions

Quality Corner Show.

 

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Buckle up.

 

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And put your thinking cap on.

 

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The Quality Corner show starts now.

 

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Hello Quality Corner show listeners.

 

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Welcome to the PQS podcast,

where we are focused on medication use,

 

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quality improvement

 

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and how we can utilize pharmacies

to improve patient health outcomes.

 

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I'm your host, Brittany Boyd,

 

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Senior Manager of pharmacy

training and support at PQS by Innovaccer.

 

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Today we have a special podcast interview

with one of our EQUIPP users.

 

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Today we welcome Ashley

Kunkle, Lori McLean, and Tommy Sharpe

 

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of U-Save-It, a group of pharmacies,

out of the state of Georgia.

 

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So Ashley, Lori, Tommy,

we welcome you to the show.

 

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Thank you

for having a chance to join us today.

 

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Thank you.

 

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Thanks for having us. Yes.

 

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so, as you know, we typically like

to hear, advice from our pharmacist.

 

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any users and other stores

that, you know, supporting their business

 

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and clinical experiences

while utilizing, EQUIPP.

 

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So today, we're hoping to hear from you

and how U-Save-It

 

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or how EQUIPP has played a part

for U-Save-It Pharmacies.

 

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and helping

you share some experiences and understand

 

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how others can help with their utilization

and expand Enhance Services outcomes.

 

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But before we get started,

I would love for each of you,

 

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if you don't mind, to give me, your name,

how you work with U-Save-It and then,

 

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Tommy would love to hear from you

about, your pharmacy history.

 

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Okay.

 

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my name is Tommy Sharpe.

 

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I am the CEO of, Crowe's Management.

 

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And Crowe's Management is a,

 

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a company that we, my family owns

 

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that helps manage the pharmacies

that we have, interest in.

 

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We currently have 46 pharmacies

that we, that we manage.

 

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And the common denominator

is that, someone in my family,

 

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is an owner in the pharmacy, whether it's

my dad or my brother, Robert and I,

 

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we started with U-Save-It

pharmacy in 1978.

 

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My father was in the pharmacist

 

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working at Revco

from his hometown of Dublin, Georgia.

 

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And my, grandfather on my mother's

side was a postman,

 

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and the owner of U-Save-It

pharmacy was on his route.

 

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And one day they were talking

and he talked about

 

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how he would love to sell his pharmacy

if he could find somebody to buy it.

 

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And so my grandfather said, well,

my son in law is a pharmacist

 

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and he's been saying he's wanted

to own his own pharmacy for a while.

 

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And so they got my grandfather,

 

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put them in touch together,

and they worked out a deal.

 

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And, and,

 

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my dad got to buy a store, and my grandfather

got to get his daughter back in town.

 

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So I think everybody won and was happy.

 

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And, so we started with this pharmacy.

 

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It was a, a traditional pharmacy

that was located near downtown,

 

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commercial district.

 

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and it

 

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started started with that,

just your old timey pharmacy.

 

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And, and for ten years, my father owned

that store, and he ended up buying Crowe’s

 

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Pharmacy, which was specialized

in nursing homes and long term care

 

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and owned that pharmacy as well.

 

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And as time went on,

he went from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 and

 

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and started growing and, befriended,

 

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some fellow pharmacists out of Alabama,

 

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Danny Cottrel, Linden Scott,

 

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Mike Strickland, Patrick Wurster.

 

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and they started the pharmacy investment

 

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coordinators,

which they started buying stores together.

 

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And that's

how the Buy-Rite brand came about.

 

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So we, Crowes manages the U-Save-It

pharmacy brand in the Buy-Rite brand,

 

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but you save it

as the Sharpe family side of the business.

 

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and as we grow, as we grew,

we realized we needed a neutral

 

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accounting company to handle

payroll of human resources accounting.

 

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And that's how Crowe’s came about.

 

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And, as time came

on, we realized that managing patients

 

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profiles or adherence scores,

we needed to become more organized.

 

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And, create a game plan

on how to effectively implement,

 

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that strategy over all of our companies.

 

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So we started an operations department

and Crowe’s and Ashley and Laurie

 

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have come to that department and they,

they they've organized it and designed it.

 

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And they're a big part of

of why we feel like we can do what we do

 

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when it comes to managing our patients

adherence scores, giving the best service

 

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we can do, our patients,

and implementing our operations

 

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team for pharmacy

operations, of our organization.

 

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Thank you Tommy.

 

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And it's such a fantastic story.

 

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I don't think I ever knew that history

either.

 

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but that is amazing.

 

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And I would love to see where

you guys have branched that to today.

 

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so, Ashley

and then Lori if you guys don't mind

 

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just speaking on your experience

and what, it's been like for

 

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you all working with Crowe’s and the Buy-rite in the U-Save-It groups.

 

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and what you guys do

to, you know, operationalize

 

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the pharmacy of how you guys keep it

so efficient.

 

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Okay.

 

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I'm Ashley Kunkle

and, the director of our pharmacy

 

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operations team here at Crowe’s.

 

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so I started,

 

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as a pharmacist, I was employed or a

pharmacist in Albany, in the Albany area.

 

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And then we opened a store,

from the ground up.

 

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And I was there for eight

years and really learned,

 

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you know, how to build our customer base.

 

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that store serviced,

a part of the community

 

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that had a high poverty rate,

 

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or still has a high poverty rate. And,

 

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we really

we realized, how much our patients

 

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utilized, us as a pharmacist

 

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because we are so accessible.

 

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I started taking blood pressures.

 

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we were one of the first stores

 

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in the area to administer immunizations.

 

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And then when adherence rolled out

and the adherence measures,

 

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the star ratings and Medicare Part D

and everything.

 

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we were we we started doing,

 

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taking part in that at that store.

 

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So as the industry

got more kind of streamlined

 

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with adherence and enhanced services

 

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and plans became more involved

with kind of

 

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recognizing how those services really do

help their patients and help them to,

 

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stay healthier, to

 

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stay out of the hospital

to prevent kind of,

 

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you know,

 

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medical events that might be very costly.

 

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more plans got on board with that.

 

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And so

 

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platforms like PQS came about and,

 

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and then the plans for the, you know,

we realized that we could really help

 

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the plans by, digging in, digging in

and figuring out how,

 

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each of these plans measured adherence.

 

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So, we really started with Humana.

 

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when I came into Crowe’s,

we quickly realized

 

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that if we were going to support

all of our pharmacies,

 

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we needed to invest in

 

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more people

to help help with that support.

 

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So, we ended up bringing Lori in.

 

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we have a couple of other people

here at the office who help with that.

 

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we started with the Humana program

 

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because, we had a

 

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lot of patients on Humana, and,

we realized

 

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that if we could keep these patients

adherent with their medications

 

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just in the three measurement categories

that,

 

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you know, we can see a difference.

 

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We can these patients compliant.

 

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and we also saw that we were able to,

 

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get DIR fees back.

 

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So this was not only something

we were already doing for our patients

 

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and as a service.

 

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And we were already providing

we were already thinking these patients,

 

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we were already making sure, you know,

explaining to them why it was so important

 

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to take their medications,

explaining to them what, you know,

 

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what could potentially happen

if they didn't take their medications.

 

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And, and then so we realized that

 

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we can get those DIR fees back and, and

 

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in that way it would

 

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help us to invest more in the operations

team.

 

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so, we

 

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we realized with our contracts,

Lori specializes in our contracts.

 

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And so she really looked at those

 

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and with each contract

to define where we could,

 

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focus on adherence and enhance services

with each plan.

 

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And then,

she kind of set up a streamlined system

 

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where we communicate with our stores

each day to tell them

 

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which patients need their medicine

each day.

 

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so that,

 

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they know who to contact,

 

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which patients to contact at the store

level.

 

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Yes. And Ashley

 

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pretty much gave my introduction. but,

 

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also, when I first started with U-Save-It,

 

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I worked, at that same store,

that Ashley was talking about.

 

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and then I worked

there for several years, and,

 

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Ashley

 

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would come into the store as she moved.

 

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She had moved to the management office,

and I was the, pharmacist in charge there.

 

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So, you know,

she would come into the store and,

 

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make sure we were looking on EQUIPP

and make sure we were,

 

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you know, doing everything we could,

to help these patients.

 

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And so that store, you know,

we really focused on it,

 

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adherence and as much as we could.

 

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And those were some of the most

that those patients,

 

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in order to get them to be adherent,

that it was really challenging.

 

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just because, it's

a very underserved population.

 

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but we were able to get them adherent,

and, and, then shortly after that,

 

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they moved me to the corporate

office, and, that was my

 

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pretty much

sole job is to really focus on adherence.

 

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like, I actually I only worked on

the Humana program the first year I came.

 

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and then

 

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we realized, oh, well,

maybe we need to dive

 

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deeper down into our contracts

to see if there's other,

 

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PBMs out there

that have programs like this.

 

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so I was on EQUIPP / PQS every day,

 

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to try to, you know, figure out where

 

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there were holes that we could fill.

 

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so that's

 

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when I started doing contracting

because we were really, you know,

 

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I needed to really look into the contracts

to see

 

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what all was out there.

 

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that's pretty much what I do now.

 

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Yeah. Amazing.

 

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So thank you both, for that descriptive,

 

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you know, the in detail of what you guys

are currently doing in the shift

 

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from being in the store

to working more on the operations side.

 

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But you guys led into,

quite a bit of what I wanted

 

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to kind of understand

what the benefits are of utilizing EQUIPP.

 

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So you guys have already spoke

on a number of those items.

 

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So from a health plan

contracting perspective, wanting to know,

 

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you know, what you're contracted for,

but what's out there?

 

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What are you expected

to, maintain and do well on and being able

 

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to see that information in EQUIPP.

 

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Ashley spoke great, detail

about the Humana program

 

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and knowing that you have a large patient

volume there, but knowing that

 

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if you perform at a certain level,

you are able to earn certain dollars back.

 

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and so that is fantastic.

 

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that you've been able to not only,

 

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have some action

 

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behind that, but also have a resource

like EQUIPP

 

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to be able to utilize and actually work

through that information.

 

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So, Lori, I want to ask you.

 

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I know that you were, you know,

speaking primarily on really focusing

 

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on, you know, adherence and the measures

that are, implicated there.

 

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How would you say, you all

 

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how often would you guys log into EQUIPP,

and how often were you utilizing it?

 

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And were there any,

 

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kind of core, like, key actions

that helped you all succeed in knowing,

 

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hey, this patient needs this at this time,

and especially speaking from,

 

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you know, working with a population,

 

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that is pretty impoverished as you, as you

mentioned, you know, how did you guys,

 

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make it actionable while utilizing EQUIPP

and helping

 

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your patients drive to success?

 

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Yes. So

 

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we are, we're a management office.

 

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so we have myself, Ashley.

 

00:13:56:05 - 00:13:59:22

And then we have, three technicians

 

00:13:59:22 - 00:14:02:22

and, another pharmacist here as well.

 

00:14:03:09 - 00:14:07:20

So, basically the way we started handling

 

00:14:07:20 - 00:14:10:20

this is we log in to EQUIPP every day,

 

00:14:11:10 - 00:14:14:01

and we and we're doing that

 

00:14:14:01 - 00:14:17:04

we're focusing on 46 stores. So,

 

00:14:18:04 - 00:14:22:11

with Humana,

they have weekly outlier updates.

 

00:14:22:22 - 00:14:26:06

and that is super helpful

because we're able to see,

 

00:14:27:00 - 00:14:30:24

who's kind of falling behind quicker

than monthly updates.

 

00:14:31:07 - 00:14:36:12

So basically what we do is

we get the information off of EQUIPP and,

 

00:14:37:08 - 00:14:40:07

see what prescriptions need

 

00:14:40:07 - 00:14:44:01

to be filled

and what, patients need to be counseled.

 

00:14:44:13 - 00:14:47:19

And we send that information

to our pharmacist in the store.

 

00:14:48:02 - 00:14:51:21

And then that way,

those patients are able to,

 

00:14:52:20 - 00:14:57:03

or the pharmacists are able to focus

on those patients that week.

 

00:14:58:05 - 00:15:01:08

and that way they don't fall behind on

getting their medications.

 

00:15:01:08 - 00:15:05:14

And then they can also see, okay, well,

these patients are trending.

 

00:15:05:14 - 00:15:07:17

They're falling behind weekly.

 

00:15:07:17 - 00:15:11:17

They need we need to intervene

and make sure we re-counsel

 

00:15:12:01 - 00:15:15:00

on the importance

of taking their diabetes medication

 

00:15:15:00 - 00:15:18:00

or their blood pressure medication.

 

00:15:18:08 - 00:15:21:06

so that's mainly

what we're we're doing here is

 

00:15:21:06 - 00:15:25:20

we are giving the information

to our pharmacies and it's it's

 

00:15:26:08 - 00:15:30:03

basically like they could get on EQUIPP

and do the same thing.

 

00:15:31:02 - 00:15:35:22

because the platform is so, like

user friendly and they're able to do that.

 

00:15:36:04 - 00:15:40:08

But we're here to monitor

to make sure that they are doing that.

 

00:15:40:20 - 00:15:44:24

and then also, you know,

you guys are always updating

 

00:15:44:24 - 00:15:49:02

or giving us more information or,

you know, different opportunities.

 

00:15:49:02 - 00:15:51:11

So we want to make sure

we're looking out for that

 

00:15:51:11 - 00:15:54:20

and that we can communicate that

to our pharmacies that are in the store.

 

00:15:57:02 - 00:15:58:06

Thank you so much for that, Lori.

 

00:15:58:06 - 00:15:59:18

It was a great description there.

 

00:15:59:18 - 00:16:02:09

And you again touched on

quite a few things there. Right.

 

00:16:02:09 - 00:16:07:00

The time saving piece of knowing that,

you know, you have more frequent updates

 

00:16:07:00 - 00:16:08:01

in one place,

 

00:16:08:01 - 00:16:11:00

so then you can spend your time

and focus efforts there, rather

 

00:16:11:00 - 00:16:12:12

with the monthly update that will come.

 

00:16:12:12 - 00:16:14:10

And then you're,

you know, putting forth that effort

 

00:16:14:10 - 00:16:17:21

and time to send that information

back to the stores and allowing them,

 

00:16:17:21 - 00:16:21:15

you know, that time to have that patient

engagement and work with them, work

 

00:16:21:15 - 00:16:22:11

with their patients there.

 

00:16:22:11 - 00:16:24:14

But you're able to give the directive,

 

00:16:24:14 - 00:16:27:14

based on the information

that you access, through EQUIPP.

 

00:16:27:14 - 00:16:31:11

Now, that's actually a really great segue,

into our next,

 

00:16:31:22 - 00:16:34:05

kind of part of the podcast,

the interview here

 

00:16:34:05 - 00:16:37:19

we would like to discuss, which

is going to be about, enhanced services.

 

00:16:37:19 - 00:16:39:24

So understanding that, enhance

 

00:16:39:24 - 00:16:43:08

services opportunities are available

and EQUIPP again weekly.

 

00:16:43:24 - 00:16:45:20

we have our,

 

00:16:45:20 - 00:16:49:13

longitudinal adherence monitoring program,

our blood pressure in A1C,

 

00:16:50:01 - 00:16:53:07

those are programs that you all are

participating in currently.

 

00:16:53:07 - 00:16:58:17

And then you also participated

in, in Q4 of 2023 when they came in.

 

00:16:58:24 - 00:17:01:05

And so I know, Lori,

you spoke on being able

 

00:17:01:05 - 00:17:04:02

to deliver the information

back to the stores,

 

00:17:04:02 - 00:17:07:02

with the enhanced services,

some of those actions have to be done,

 

00:17:07:11 - 00:17:10:03

in the store and have to then,

you know, be documented in EQUIPP.

 

00:17:10:03 - 00:17:13:08

But I know that you all are working

with the source very closely for that.

 

00:17:13:15 - 00:17:15:08

so Ashley or Lori,

 

00:17:15:08 - 00:17:19:17

are there any specific tips

that drive success, in these programs

 

00:17:19:17 - 00:17:23:00

and being able

to have your, the pharmacies and the staff

 

00:17:23:00 - 00:17:27:14

kind of join together to document,

when they are engaging and trying to,

 

00:17:28:08 - 00:17:31:05

help those patients close those gaps

in care as it relates to the Enhanced

 

00:17:31:05 - 00:17:32:10

Services program in EQUIPP.

 

00:17:35:02 - 00:17:38:03

I think the just, you know,

 

00:17:39:14 - 00:17:41:04

we're able to kind of have it, like Lori

 

00:17:41:04 - 00:17:44:04

said, we're able

to kind of oversee that here so we can

 

00:17:45:02 - 00:17:47:04

we can remind our pharmacists like, hey,

 

00:17:47:04 - 00:17:50:04

you need to contact this patient.

 

00:17:50:22 - 00:17:54:20

about their A1C, we need to either

 

00:17:55:11 - 00:17:59:22

check their A1C, or we need to find out

when their last A1C was.

 

00:18:00:06 - 00:18:03:20

And, and then that gives

that the in-store pharmacists

 

00:18:03:20 - 00:18:08:17

the opportunity

to be sure that they are on top of that.

 

00:18:08:17 - 00:18:13:06

And they have a note to

if they need to call that patient

 

00:18:13:06 - 00:18:16:20

or if they can't get in touch with them,

make a note next time

 

00:18:16:20 - 00:18:19:23

the patient comes in

or they deliver to that patient.

 

00:18:19:23 - 00:18:23:24

They make a note with the delivery driver

to, hey, when you get to this patient's

 

00:18:23:24 - 00:18:25:00

house, call me.

 

00:18:25:00 - 00:18:30:05

I need to talk to them about, you know,

whether it's A1C, blood pressure,

 

00:18:30:17 - 00:18:31:15

you know, being compliant

 

00:18:31:15 - 00:18:35:10

on their medication or whatever

the issue is, we have, you know,

 

00:18:35:10 - 00:18:40:20

we really try to make sure that we go,

we make every effort to contact them.

 

00:18:41:01 - 00:18:43:06

Sometimes that even involves

the doctor's office,

 

00:18:43:06 - 00:18:44:14

you know, calling the doctor's office.

 

00:18:44:14 - 00:18:49:17

Hey, next time they're there, we

really need to make sure they get A1C or,

 

00:18:50:14 - 00:18:54:09

we need them to, you know, in

kind of explaining to the provider

 

00:18:55:03 - 00:18:58:02

what we're doing

and how we're helping. And,

 

00:18:59:01 - 00:19:00:20

and that, you know,

 

00:19:00:20 - 00:19:03:15

just helps the patient more relate,

 

00:19:03:15 - 00:19:06:15

because they know that they have more,

 

00:19:07:21 - 00:19:09:15

health care providers

 

00:19:09:15 - 00:19:12:15

taking care of them.

 

00:19:13:24 - 00:19:15:01

That's helpful information.

 

00:19:15:01 - 00:19:16:14

Thank you.

 

00:19:16:14 - 00:19:18:00

so, Tommy, I know that,

 

00:19:18:00 - 00:19:21:12

Ashley and Lori are primarily

working in the stores and are close there,

 

00:19:21:12 - 00:19:24:15

but I believe that this, could be

a good question for you to answer.

 

00:19:24:15 - 00:19:28:21

Just working on the business operations

and knowing, you know, how many stores

 

00:19:28:21 - 00:19:31:21

that you all have been able

to branch and expand to,

 

00:19:31:21 - 00:19:35:07

you know, just over the years,

but knowing that health plans and payers

 

00:19:35:07 - 00:19:39:06

are ultimately supporting us in being able

to offer these enhanced

 

00:19:39:06 - 00:19:40:14

services programing.

 

00:19:40:14 - 00:19:43:08

would you like to see, more health plans

coming in

 

00:19:43:08 - 00:19:46:21

and delivering that back to the pharmacies

and giving that up as an offering?

 

00:19:47:01 - 00:19:50:08

Ultimately, not only would that impact,

you know, could that impact your patient

 

00:19:50:08 - 00:19:54:18

population, but help your stores,

you know, be continue to prosper.

 

00:19:54:18 - 00:19:57:17

So is that something that you think

could be helpful?

 

00:19:57:17 - 00:19:59:00

I think it could. I think,

 

00:20:00:16 - 00:20:01:10

for, for

 

00:20:01:10 - 00:20:05:22

years, you know, historically,

the pharmacist,

 

00:20:06:11 - 00:20:10:08

when they measure

most critical, professions in our economy

 

00:20:10:20 - 00:20:14:01

always ranks in the top

five of any profession.

 

00:20:14:24 - 00:20:20:07

I think the value that EQUIPP

can bring in some of these rating scores

 

00:20:20:07 - 00:20:23:11

that they can bring is

if they can tie in measurable ways

 

00:20:23:18 - 00:20:26:16

to practice pharmacy in a healthy way.

 

00:20:26:16 - 00:20:28:16

That's good for the patient.

 

00:20:28:16 - 00:20:31:23

we want to use technology

in an efficient way,

 

00:20:32:11 - 00:20:35:06

but never lose sight of the reason

why we want to be here,

 

00:20:35:06 - 00:20:38:01

which is the art of practicing

pharmacy there.

 

00:20:38:01 - 00:20:42:02

We we as an organization believe,

you know, in the

 

00:20:42:12 - 00:20:44:02

in the value of our pharmacists.

 

00:20:44:02 - 00:20:47:13

We're not going to be a good organization

if we don't have good pharmacists.

 

00:20:47:24 - 00:20:51:01

And so we want to do everything we can

from a corporate standpoint

 

00:20:51:12 - 00:20:55:00

to empower our pharmacy pharmacists

to focus on our patients.

 

00:20:55:06 - 00:20:58:20

And if that means we can use organizations

such as EQUIPP

 

00:20:59:04 - 00:21:02:00

to help gather the right information

 

00:21:02:00 - 00:21:06:12

to, to to make good decisions

and to build our patients trust by

 

00:21:07:07 - 00:21:09:21

consistently applying our practice

 

00:21:09:21 - 00:21:12:15

in a way that is best for the patient,

 

00:21:12:15 - 00:21:16:23

we feel like that's a good direction

for pharmacy to go, and our pharmacists

 

00:21:16:23 - 00:21:20:07

need to be accessible to our patients,

and they need to be,

 

00:21:21:08 - 00:21:23:13

they need

to have access to the best information

 

00:21:23:13 - 00:21:26:20

to make good decisions that will lead

to better healthcare outcomes.

 

00:21:26:20 - 00:21:29:16

And I think if we can do that

as an industry,

 

00:21:29:16 - 00:21:33:21

I think our profession will will be one

that is highly respected

 

00:21:33:21 - 00:21:36:21

and highly valued.

 

00:21:37:11 - 00:21:38:15

That’s fantastic, Tommy.

 

00:21:38:15 - 00:21:40:05

thank you for that.

 

00:21:40:05 - 00:21:42:08

so again, it's

great to hear that EQUIPP has been such

 

00:21:42:08 - 00:21:46:07

a valuable resource for you all

and how you all are communicating

 

00:21:46:13 - 00:21:49:13

back to your staff, to your point Tommy,

how you are,

 

00:21:50:11 - 00:21:53:10

you know, understanding

how to empower your pharmacies.

 

00:21:53:10 - 00:21:54:12

And so,

 

00:21:54:12 - 00:21:57:21

I want to hear from each of you

if you can, giving some advice

 

00:21:57:21 - 00:22:01:17

to our other end users and other pharmacy

clients that are out there, you know,

 

00:22:01:17 - 00:22:05:22

as it may relate to quality improvement,

or just, you know,

 

00:22:05:22 - 00:22:08:22

improving medication use, you know,

 

00:22:09:19 - 00:22:14:02

increasing the efficiency of EQUIPP,

you know, what are kind of some key tips

 

00:22:14:02 - 00:22:15:06

that are like, you know what,

 

00:22:15:06 - 00:22:17:06

I didn't know this before,

but I know this now,

 

00:22:17:06 - 00:22:19:00

and I know

that this helps us tremendously.

 

00:22:19:00 - 00:22:23:01

So if each one of you, can maybe

take about a minute and just provide some,

 

00:22:23:07 - 00:22:26:09

key feedback, if you don't mind, I think

that'd be helpful for our, our listeners.

 

00:22:28:14 - 00:22:30:24

Yeah, I can start.

 

00:22:30:24 - 00:22:33:09

so the,

 

00:22:33:09 - 00:22:36:12

when I first started

with, working on EQUIPP,

 

00:22:36:19 - 00:22:39:18

I was in the store and yes,

not every pharmacy out

 

00:22:39:18 - 00:22:43:05

there has a whole management team

to help point those things out.

 

00:22:43:17 - 00:22:46:23

But, what I've learned with EQUIPP,

 

00:22:47:04 - 00:22:50:04

like I was touching on earlier, you guys,

 

00:22:50:09 - 00:22:54:17

are constantly offering, like, resources

to, to help you understand,

 

00:22:54:17 - 00:22:59:10

like how adherence is measured

and how the program works. And,

 

00:23:00:14 - 00:23:03:11

the webinars are great.

 

00:23:03:11 - 00:23:06:16

all the like resource page is fantastic.

 

00:23:06:16 - 00:23:09:16

So my advice would definitely be,

 

00:23:10:00 - 00:23:12:06

like, use what you're given and,

 

00:23:12:06 - 00:23:16:13

you know, take the time to sit and read

and try to really understand

 

00:23:16:13 - 00:23:20:11

how these plans are,

are measuring you for adherence.

 

00:23:21:05 - 00:23:26:00

and then also,

as far as a pharmacy standpoint,

 

00:23:26:07 - 00:23:31:17

you want to focus on the, the plans that,

you have a lot of patients in and

 

00:23:33:04 - 00:23:34:11

so that's what we do.

 

00:23:34:11 - 00:23:36:14

Our 2 or 3, biggest payers.

 

00:23:36:14 - 00:23:42:00

We really focus on them, to make sure

those, patients stay adherent.

 

00:23:43:23 - 00:23:45:17

that would be my advice.

 

00:23:45:17 - 00:23:46:22

Yeah.

 

00:23:46:22 - 00:23:50:05

I would encourage, you know,

I talk to when we go

 

00:23:50:05 - 00:23:53:16

to different pharmacy conferences,

I talk to a lot of pharmacists

 

00:23:53:16 - 00:23:57:21

that say, you know,

I just don't have time to do that.

 

00:23:57:22 - 00:24:02:12

I'm too busy and and all these things,

and I completely understand

 

00:24:02:12 - 00:24:06:04

it's very busy, but we didn't

we were doing this before. We,

 

00:24:07:05 - 00:24:11:18

you know, had we brought in the,

you know, myself and Lori to the office

 

00:24:11:18 - 00:24:17:03

like we saw the importance of it

while we were in the store. So,

 

00:24:18:24 - 00:24:21:24

so I, I think that I would encourage,

 

00:24:22:13 - 00:24:27:00

other pharmacists to like, say,

take the time to really dive

 

00:24:27:00 - 00:24:31:13

into those resources that you put out,

because you can learn a lot about

 

00:24:31:13 - 00:24:34:14

not only what plans will reimburse

you for the services.

 

00:24:34:22 - 00:24:37:22

Most of the time, you're already doing,

 

00:24:38:13 - 00:24:42:04

and if you can really just kind of refine

your process so that you make sure,

 

00:24:42:09 - 00:24:43:20

you know, patients are left,

 

00:24:45:05 - 00:24:45:17

without their

 

00:24:45:17 - 00:24:49:17

meds, you know, that those few days

that they may not

 

00:24:49:17 - 00:24:53:04

be compliant, you know, really make

the difference with these plans.

 

00:24:53:04 - 00:24:56:04

So really just kind of find a way to be,

 

00:24:56:19 - 00:24:58:19

organized with that process

 

00:24:58:19 - 00:25:01:17

and EQUIPP you know, really gives you

the tools to do that.

 

00:25:01:17 - 00:25:04:20

But but not only that,

just really looking at those resources

 

00:25:05:00 - 00:25:11:01

and, and understanding

how you're being reimbursed by each plan.

 

00:25:11:01 - 00:25:14:10

And I think that, you know, once

you learn all that information,

 

00:25:14:19 - 00:25:17:19

then you will, appreciate,

 

00:25:18:09 - 00:25:20:22

the value PQS offers

 

00:25:20:22 - 00:25:26:03

with, with, you know, making sure

that we can get reimbursement

 

00:25:26:03 - 00:25:29:03

for everything, that we're able to.

 

00:25:31:11 - 00:25:34:08

Yes, and just from

a organizational standpoint,

 

00:25:34:08 - 00:25:38:13

what we've realized is,

when you embraced technology

 

00:25:38:13 - 00:25:43:17

such as EQUIPP, it's, helped us

learn our patient base, patients.

 

00:25:44:22 - 00:25:45:09

it's helped

 

00:25:45:09 - 00:25:48:09

us manage our inventory more effectively.

 

00:25:48:12 - 00:25:51:13

it's just been an effective tool

for our pharmacies

 

00:25:51:23 - 00:25:55:20

to stay on top

of where we need to be as a pharmacy.

 

00:25:56:04 - 00:26:00:18

And it's just it's

been very effective in just improving

 

00:26:00:18 - 00:26:04:05

the overall patient care

that we've given as an organization.

 

00:26:08:03 - 00:26:08:15

That's great.

 

00:26:08:15 - 00:26:10:21

We appreciate that. Thank you.

 

00:26:10:21 - 00:26:14:17

Ashley, Tommy, Lori, it has been

really great to hang with you guys today.

 

00:26:15:00 - 00:26:17:18

Just chat through how EQUIPP has helped

you all.

 

00:26:17:18 - 00:26:20:01

Thank you for your authentic feedback,

 

00:26:20:01 - 00:26:22:21

about how you've been able

to operationalize the platform, but

 

00:26:22:21 - 00:26:27:00

also just driving into those really key

details of how successful it's made you.

 

00:26:27:17 - 00:26:30:03

so two things before we go and I'll let,

 

00:26:30:03 - 00:26:32:20

Lori, I ask you to take the first one.

 

00:26:32:20 - 00:26:35:19

I'll leave the second one

for Tommy, but, Lori,

 

00:26:35:19 - 00:26:39:12

if you had one thing to tell a health plan

and Tommy gave his feedback already

 

00:26:39:12 - 00:26:42:20

about how great it is

to have that interconnectivity

 

00:26:42:20 - 00:26:45:12

between the health plans

and the pharmacies and getting that back.

 

00:26:45:12 - 00:26:47:09

But if you had one thing,

you can tell a health plan,

 

00:26:48:12 - 00:26:50:16

it's about

enhanced services or about EQUIPP

 

00:26:50:16 - 00:26:53:11

and how much it's helped you

or what's been successful for you or what

 

00:26:53:11 - 00:26:54:19

you want them to know.

 

00:26:54:19 - 00:26:56:21

I would love to hear that from you.

 

00:26:56:21 - 00:27:00:03

and then, Tommy, you gave us a really

great history about Crowe's Management.

 

00:27:00:03 - 00:27:03:13

And Buy-Rite and U-Save-It, but

I would like to hear a fun fact from you

 

00:27:03:13 - 00:27:06:14

that we maybe did not get in that history,

so I'll let you think on that one.

 

00:27:06:14 - 00:27:08:19

Well, Lori, wrap this up, hearing.

 

00:27:08:19 - 00:27:11:19

That last question,

 

00:27:11:20 - 00:27:13:20

I think, what

 

00:27:13:20 - 00:27:17:12

I would really like

to tell any of the health plans is,

 

00:27:18:18 - 00:27:22:22

and I know reimbursement,

it looks a lot different for 2024.

 

00:27:23:07 - 00:27:26:07

It's gonna look a lot different for 2025.

 

00:27:26:19 - 00:27:29:11

but the pharmacies

 

00:27:29:11 - 00:27:34:07

and I know particularly pharmacies

in low income rural areas,

 

00:27:34:17 - 00:27:40:16

like our stores are in we are making

a huge difference in the patients lives.

 

00:27:40:16 - 00:27:43:23

Like they're they're coming to us to,

 

00:27:44:10 - 00:27:46:24

you know, evaluate their Medicare plan.

 

00:27:46:24 - 00:27:48:21

They're coming to us to ask for,

 

00:27:50:19 - 00:27:52:13

you know, to check their agency.

 

00:27:52:13 - 00:27:54:15

They're coming to us

to check their blood pressure.

 

00:27:54:15 - 00:27:57:14

So if there were more plans

that were willing

 

00:27:57:14 - 00:28:00:14

to, participate and,

 

00:28:00:20 - 00:28:05:00

and pay us for these services, it's it's

something that we're already doing.

 

00:28:05:00 - 00:28:08:17

So and we're going to continue to do that

because we care for our patients.

 

00:28:08:17 - 00:28:10:18

And that's the most important thing.

 

00:28:10:18 - 00:28:14:04

But if more plans were able to pay us

for those services,

 

00:28:16:00 - 00:28:18:22

more opportunity

to add something like we're prepared

 

00:28:18:22 - 00:28:22:00

to do like we're,

we're going to make sure it gets done.

 

00:28:23:09 - 00:28:25:05

because like what Tommy,

 

00:28:25:05 - 00:28:29:20

we developed this team,

to help our store succeed

 

00:28:29:20 - 00:28:32:20

and to help our patients

stay as healthy as possible.

 

00:28:33:20 - 00:28:35:15

so I think that's what I would just

 

00:28:35:15 - 00:28:38:17

basically ask for more programs

to give us more work to do,

 

00:28:40:15 - 00:28:43:15

because we're prepared to do it. So.

 

00:28:44:21 - 00:28:47:10

fun fact you to

 

00:28:47:10 - 00:28:50:10

so many, fun facts,

 

00:28:50:13 - 00:28:53:13

you know, my

my father first got into pharmacy.

 

00:28:53:24 - 00:28:57:13

It was, you had a typewriter

and there was no insurance.

 

00:28:57:13 - 00:29:01:10

Basically,

you you had a little bit of state Medicaid

 

00:29:01:23 - 00:29:07:05

and, so we've seen our industry

evolve from,

 

00:29:07:23 - 00:29:11:07

from that point to the point

where we have an operations team

 

00:29:11:07 - 00:29:15:08

that's talking to a technology company,

and we're all figuring out ways

 

00:29:15:08 - 00:29:18:24

that we can we can coordinate together

to give the best patient care.

 

00:29:19:20 - 00:29:23:10

so I think, seeing us

get to that point of,

 

00:29:25:04 - 00:29:28:14

from just the old time

mom and pop independent pharmacy.

 

00:29:29:06 - 00:29:32:06

it's been a fun transition.

 

00:29:32:14 - 00:29:34:17

payment is important.

 

00:29:34:17 - 00:29:37:06

incentives to give good service

 

00:29:37:06 - 00:29:40:14

and good patient care,

I think is is is a good thing.

 

00:29:41:22 - 00:29:44:24

when I was

in middle school, one of the first jobs

 

00:29:44:24 - 00:29:48:18

I had was being assistant

to one of our delivery drivers.

 

00:29:48:18 - 00:29:52:13

We deliver medication for free,

and there was a high school,

 

00:29:53:18 - 00:29:56:07

college, you know, college guy

who was driving the truck.

 

00:29:56:07 - 00:30:00:00

And he would drive up and say, well,

this patient, she's important.

 

00:30:00:00 - 00:30:02:20

Let me make sure I get her

patient medication. Right.

 

00:30:02:20 - 00:30:05:18

And he'd deliver,

and I'd see him walk back to the truck,

 

00:30:05:18 - 00:30:08:17

and look to be like a dollar or two

in his pocket.

 

00:30:08:17 - 00:30:11:22

And, and then, I'd go the next route

 

00:30:11:22 - 00:30:15:06

and say, well, you know, you do this one.

 

00:30:15:06 - 00:30:16:18

You can handle this one. Go get that.

 

00:30:16:18 - 00:30:18:16

And so I noticed that,

 

00:30:18:16 - 00:30:22:00

there was no there's no dollar

I was putting in my pocket afterwards.

 

00:30:22:00 - 00:30:24:20

And after about the fifth time

and seeing that, my dad said,

 

00:30:24:20 - 00:30:25:20

what did you learn anything?

 

00:30:25:20 - 00:30:30:13

I said, yeah, Steven,

let me take the, the packages to the ones

 

00:30:30:13 - 00:30:34:23

that people didn't tip, and make sure

he took care of the ones where people did.

 

00:30:34:23 - 00:30:37:04

So, they it's a kind of a funny story.

 

00:30:37:04 - 00:30:38:24

I he knew his patient,

but he knew his patients

 

00:30:38:24 - 00:30:41:09

because that little,

that little financial incentive that

 

00:30:41:09 - 00:30:43:11

was a big was a motivator.

 

00:30:45:05 - 00:30:46:16

we have a very,

 

00:30:46:16 - 00:30:50:10

very competitive market right

now, and it's difficult.

 

00:30:50:17 - 00:30:54:02

I think everyone in our industry

knows it's difficult to survive.

 

00:30:54:22 - 00:30:58:09

So whatever, you know,

if this is how the PBMs value

 

00:30:58:23 - 00:31:03:00

us by giving better patient care,

I think tying in some form of financial

 

00:31:03:00 - 00:31:06:02

incentive is important

because all of these services

 

00:31:06:02 - 00:31:08:16

that we've invested

heavily in aren't free.

 

00:31:08:16 - 00:31:13:21

We've made a significant financial

investment to this, and it works.

 

00:31:13:21 - 00:31:19:03

It gives better patient care

where we're seeing our patients outperform

 

00:31:19:13 - 00:31:22:18

in certain demographics

that traditionally have underperformed.

 

00:31:22:23 - 00:31:25:04

So I think it's worth the investment.

 

00:31:25:04 - 00:31:28:23

we're, you know,

the goal is to prolong, prolong lives

 

00:31:28:23 - 00:31:32:19

and for people to have a good quality

of life with that prolonged life.

 

00:31:32:19 - 00:31:36:00

So the financial incentives

are a good thing.

 

00:31:36:08 - 00:31:38:18

They need to be reasonable and fair.

 

00:31:38:18 - 00:31:41:23

But, our industry,

we are suffering right now

 

00:31:42:06 - 00:31:45:18

from from very competitive

reimbursements. And,

 

00:31:46:23 - 00:31:47:05

I think

 

00:31:47:05 - 00:31:50:07

for us to survive,

we do need to have programs that they help

 

00:31:50:07 - 00:31:53:07

pay for us, and reward pharmacies

for being good pharmacies.

 

00:31:56:06 - 00:31:57:06

That's fantastic Tommy.

 

00:31:57:06 - 00:31:58:14

Thank you. Thank you Laurie.

 

00:31:58:14 - 00:31:59:19

Thank you Ashley.

 

00:31:59:19 - 00:32:02:09

Really appreciate you all joining us

today.

 

00:32:02:09 - 00:32:04:20

that was actually a really fantastic story

to Tommy.

 

00:32:04:20 - 00:32:07:18

that was. Thank you for that fun fact.

 

00:32:07:18 - 00:32:08:07

all right,

 

00:32:08:07 - 00:32:12:00

so with that, we have wrapped up

this episode of the Quality Corner Show.

 

00:32:12:06 - 00:32:15:23

Would like to thank Ashley,

Lori, and Tommy from Crowe's Management

 

00:32:15:23 - 00:32:19:16

with Buy-Rite and U-Save-It pharmacies in

Georgia and Alabama for joining us today.

 

00:32:19:21 - 00:32:21:18

We thank you audience for listening.

 

00:32:21:18 - 00:32:23:18

I hope you listen

to the next episode of the show.

 

00:32:23:18 - 00:32:26:18

But before we go,

we have one final message from PQS.

 

00:32:27:03 - 00:32:30:17

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00:32:31:07 - 00:32:32:13

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00:32:32:13 - 00:32:36:15

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00:32:36:15 - 00:32:39:01

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00:32:39:01 - 00:32:42:01

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00:32:42:09 - 00:32:45:15

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00:32:45:22 - 00:32:48:20

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00:32:48:20 - 00:32:51:21

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00:32:51:23 - 00:32:54:20

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00:32:54:20 - 00:32:59:03

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00:32:59:18 - 00:33:02:16

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00:33:02:16 - 00:33:04:17

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00:33:04:17 - 00:33:08:03

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00:33:08:10 - 00:33:10:23

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