RESUMO
A wide range of changes are in the future for health care: value-based reimbursement, delivery of integrated services, the continued breakdown of silos, and interoperability maximizing communication/information exchange. The American Society of Consultant Pharmacists recently held a conference focusing on key innovations in post-acute/long-term/senior care and how pharmacists can function successfully in this new paradigm in ways that promote quality medication management, address polypharmacy, improve patients' quality of life, reduce costs, and eliminate avoidable readmissions.
Assuntos
Previsões , Farmacêuticos , Farmácia/tendências , Conduta do Tratamento MedicamentosoRESUMO
With cost cutting paramount in health care, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have become increasingly popular as an alternative for performing many low-risk surgical procedures. Currently, there are more than 5,000 of these centers nationwide, and visits to ASCs have tripled in the last decade. In addition to being cost-effective, at least one study suggests that they are more efficient than hospitals, which saves patients time, as well as money. As this segment of the health care industry grows, this also presents new opportunities for pharmacists interested in a new professional niche and practice challenge.
Assuntos
Instituições de Assistência Ambulatorial/organização & administração , Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Ambulatórios/métodos , Farmacêuticos/organização & administração , Instituições de Assistência Ambulatorial/economia , Instituições de Assistência Ambulatorial/tendências , Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Ambulatórios/economia , Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Ambulatórios/tendências , Análise Custo-Benefício , Custos de Cuidados de Saúde , Humanos , Assistência Farmacêutica/organização & administração , Assistência Farmacêutica/tendências , Farmacêuticos/tendências , Papel Profissional , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) were established as part of the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform act signed by President Obama in 2010. An ACO, comprising a network of physicians and facilities that managed the health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries, is an innovative model for delivering health care services. While pharmacist involvement in ACOs is not federally mandated, their skills and experience suggest that they can play a viable role in these organizations. The medication-related activities that the ACO will need to provide are consistent with those currently being performed by consultant pharmacists in long-term care, so there could well be opportunities for these practitioners as ACOs are established and evolve.