Healthy Skepticism Library item: 9343

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Davenport SB, Garrison WO, O' NEAL, Seal BS.
Improving reimbursement of ambulatory prescriptions through indigent care programs by a multidisciplinary approach
ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting 1993 Dec; 28:

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to maintain an ambulatory prescription service and improve the clinic’s financial reimbursement through the use of manufacturer based indigent care programs and a structured multidisciplinary approach. The high cost of an ambulatory prescription service today is not covered by many third party reimbursement sources and, for the sources that do have coverage, the reimbursement may be minimal. At our clinic, we used a multidisciplinary approach to shift the prescription costs of indigent patients from low reimbursement sources to manufacturer based indigent programs. The various disciplines involved were physicians, social workers, financial counselors and nursing departments, all coordinated by pharmacy personnel. The process of improving reimbursement was expedited by constant communication among the staffs involved, aided by educational tools such as flow charts. As a result, an annualized savings of over $65,000.00 has occurred for the clinic pharmacy.