Healthcare Businesses Explore Innovative Ways to Provide Safe Home Medication Management
The need for safe home medication management has matured beyond the passionate family caregivers who as “early adopters”, demonstrated how useful automated medication dispensers could be to keep family safe and adherent in their home.
Now, Livi is going off to work! Healthcare businesses are exploring how smart, home-based systems like Livi can decrease the costs of care including reducing expensive adverse drug events (ADE).
Facing dramatic increases in chronic illness in the U.S. and the increased use of medication to treat patients affordably1, healthcare providers, insurers, pharmacies, and telehealth companies are looking to innovative home medication dispensing systems that go beyond strip or compliance packaging options. Connected automated medication dispensers can help close dangerous safety gaps for patients, and provide needed support for stretched care management teams.
With broad acceptance that medication adherence can reduce the total cost of care 2-16, the overarching value proposition for home medication management is driven by:
In addition to this value, there are several business use cases that show promise with reimbursement or additional return-on-investment. They include:
Intellectually/Developmentally Disabled (I/DD) Providers: Supported by state Medicaid programs, the I/DD community is in need of medication management solutions that can assist professional caregivers in group homes, and assist clients in independent living. Rising costs and inconsistent care is prompting transition of clients to community-based programs, and where possible, to independent living. For group homes, the value proposition for Livi is providing needed support and time savings to staff by simplifying the medication administration process and closing significant safety gaps. For independent living, Livi can help clients manage their meds safely while alerting caregivers of potential issues. An increasing number of states offer some kind of support for dispensing devices ranging from assistive technology allowances, waiver programs for home technology, and other reimbursement programs.
Telehealth Providers: Innovative telehealth solutions are emerging to support patients in their homes, especially in rural areas and other underserved communities. In several states, Medicare and Medicaid funds are available through waiver programs to help support telehealth capabilities. Recognizing the importance of medication therapies in treatment of chronic illnesses in the home, leaders in this segment are now looking to integrate home-based medication management functionality into their platforms to help patients manage complex medication therapies and avoid more costly interventions. Livi represents both a tool to help patients maintain medication adherence, but also provides timely inventory and use data for the care team to focus limited resources.
Pharmacy Services: The changing healthcare landscape has innovative pharmacies looking for tools to extend their value beyond medication distribution. Pharmacies are exploring how they can integrate adherence and other value-added services that can deepen relationships with high need clients. Integration of home medication management tools are a natural extension to current distribution and clinical functions. Multiple sub-segments of the pharmacy industry are exploring and testing smart home medication management solutions that can provide inventory and adherence data.
Payers: While most insurers are not reimbursing for home medication management systems yet, changes to the Medicaid Advantage Program could hasten support. The Medicaid Advantage program is now requiring participating insurers to provide adherence data for patients being treated for key chronic diseases. The adherence data will impact Advantage “Star Ratings” given to insurers to rate the quality of their services and used to secure competitive contracts. In addition, CMS incentives and penalties are coming on line to direct payers to manage patient adherence at a minimum of 80% sustained over the year. The value proposition for home medication management in this segment is derived from early identification of high cost patients struggling with adherence so additional intervention can occur when needed. Longer term, savings from reducing the overall cost of care (i.e. reduced readmissions, ER visits, adverse drug events) will justify deployment to high cost populations but in the interim, immediate value can be provided to care management teams managing groups of high risk patients. With timely visibility to non-adherence data, staff can avoid unneeded engagement and focus on clients who need assistance.
If medication adherence and safe home medication management is important to your business or clinical success, lets explore how Livi can go to work for you!
Please visit us at https://liviathome.com, contact us at info@liviathome.com, or call us at (843)277-8250.
Sources
