Independent pharmacists across North Carolina are teaming up with our state’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina, to offer patients access to an innovative new healthcare option.
Through the program called “More Than a Script,” pharmacists will offer education and care management to patients with hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes. Patients will have no charge for these services, and the pharmacists will be reimbursed by the insurer.
While the program is in an initial pilot phase, the potential benefits of this partnership are big.
A JAMA study previously looked at pharmacist intervention to help address hypertension. By more effectively controlling blood pressure, the estimated savings were more than $10,000 a person, and more than 30.2 million life-years saved, over a 30-year period.
And when the City of Asheville launched a program that connected T2D patients with community pharmacists to make sure medications were used correctly, there were positive health results and savings. Average A1C blood sugar levels decreased at all follow-ups, and more than 50 percent of patients demonstrated improvements each time. Medical cost decreased by as much as $1,800 per patients per year, and the City of Asheville now saves about $4.00 for every dollar it invests in the program.
Good things can happen when different players in the healthcare market team up for the good of patients. In this case, pharmacists will earn more money by providing appropriate, quality services. Insurers will save on medical expenses. And patients will have better outcomes and lower costs.
This specific partnership between independent pharmacists and Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina is one that we should all hope grows and excels.
If it does, it could mean big things for patients in North Carolina.
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