As the COVID pandemic has put tremendous financial pressure on skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, and LTC facilities, the ability to maximize profits and improve efficiencies has never been more crucial. A primary opportunity for facilities and operators to make a significant impact on their bottom line is by ensuring they are receiving the maximum eligible rebates on their drug spend each month. These rebates can add up to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. The following are 3 ways to ensure that you get the most from your rebate dollars and reach the lowest net cost on your pharmacy spend.
Drug Utilization Improvement
One key way to control pharmacy costs is by ensuring that your drug utilization meets the needs of patient populations while also improving facility profitability. Paula Agoglia, a licensed registered pharmacist and SVP of Business Development at SRX with over 20 years of experience in LTC pharmacy cost containment explains, “A well-planned and managed formulary is the foundation of a successfully managed pharmacy practice. Done properly, it provides the guidelines needed to ensure that the clinical side of your operations is aligned with the financial side of your operations and vice versa. Just making sure this alignment is part of your operational strategy is an important step not only in obtaining important rebate dollars, but also reducing waste and improving other efficiencies.”
Automation
Once a formulary is established, facilities can use automated technology to implement point-of-sale adjudication, a process that prevents formulary rules from being broken. When point-of-sale adjudication is not possible, a drug utilization review (DUR) can provide a detailed report of all claims, including off-formulary prescriptions that may have been filled. Erik Reaveley, Chief Strategy Officer at SRX, was instrumental in developing SRX’s DUR process. He explains, “One of the main challenges we saw when we began looking at solutions to help LTC operators manage their pharmacy spend was in the area of reviewing claims. A lot of operators still do this manually. We are talking about thousands of line items - that’s not efficient. By automating this review process, we can provide a level of insight not available anywhere else on the market.”
Right Partner, Right Solution
Managing the complexity involved in pharmacy spend also requires a broad base of industry knowledge in order to fully understand how to minimize drug costs and maximize rebates. The right technology partner will have experts to support pharmacy management and advise on best practices for achieving lowest net cost. Scott Taylor, CEO explains, “Operators have a lot on their plates, especially now. Our mission is to provide solutions that reduce their burdens through automation, technology, and advisory support. Our customers see us as a valued partner in their cost savings strategy, but a big piece of that is the check they get each quarter. Money talks. Those are important dollars that can be used elsewhere.”
SRX is a technology company that helps LTC operators achieve the lowest net cost on pharmacy spend. We offer a free rebate calculator that estimates the rebate dollars your facility may be eligible for. Learn more and schedule a demo at srx-tech.com, or contact one of our experts at 833 633 6833.