The vision of Blue Thorn Inc. is to share best practices that align financial incentives for payers, providers, and patients with quality outcomes. This must be supported by robust integrated IT infrastructure and appropriate delivery system changes to migrate from an acute care approach based on rewards for volume of services and procedures to one that rewards improved outcomes and coordinated care for patients. This will enable systematic changes for continuous, coordinated, and proactive care while reducing total healthcare cost. For example, as a consultant with Medication Management Systems, Inc., I have partnered with the leaders that literally wrote the text book and defined the practice of pharmaceutical care. This pharmaceutical practice and robust interoperable IT platform which emerged from over 30 years of experience and research at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy enables a systematic patient-centric (evidenced based) and standardized approach to medication use which is linked directly to achieving the clinical goals of therapy. Other innovative clients include Medecision, trade associations such as Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, many large pharmaceutical companies, AHIP, SSB Solutions, large integrated delivery systems, and Universities such as the University of Maryland- College of Pharmacy Innovation Center.
This evolving approach termed "comprehensive medication management" allows for a transition of the majority of the 270,000+ pharmacist in the US from dispensing activities to use their expertise as clinical pharmacists in direct patient care collaboratively with physicians and other prescribers. This transition will allow pharmacist to practice "at the top of their education" sharing their knowledge of medication effects and interactions in recommending the most appropriate medications and dosages to achieve optimal clinical outcomes to prescribers and patients.
From coordination of medications in ACO and PCMH models, to benefit design, and infrastructure changes necessary to truly impact outcomes and reduce costs by 10-20%, ask me how we can put these approaches in place for your organization. If you are a researcher, Healthplan, payer, provider group, or pharmaceutical company interested in what drug therapy problems are seen with which drugs, what are the patient populations that benefit from which drugs at which doses, or are interested in appropriate indications or adverse effects and truly want to share risk, I can help you successfully transform your practice and payment systems and answer these questions, while achieving optimal results.
Philosophy and Consulting Affiliations
