“We need to begin to say, let’s reorient to the goals that matter for patients and then make sure the drugs and metrics are appropriate. I think that once we do that, we’ll stop chasing adherence and Stars and start getting more upstream in terms of indication, effectiveness and safety.”

In this episode Deborah McMahon, SVP of Aveus talks with Dr. Terry McInnis about how medication management strategies aid in reducing costs and improving health. In a paper she coauthored in 2018, she highlighted that there’s roughly half a trillion dollars in waste that can be attributed to non-optimized drug therapies. Deb and Terry talk about addressing some of the upstream root issues in the patient medication experience and how those can lead to improvements in downstream outcomes. 

Dr. Terry McInnis is an industry leader and consultant. She is President and Founder of Blue Thorn Inc Healthcare Consulting and has led engagements with more than 100 companies and health systems, to help them succeed in an era of precision medicine and value-based care.  She is a nationally recognized expert in medication management and successful drug costs value strategies. Terry serves as a consultant to Arene and as well as serving on our Medecision Advisory Board.

Memorable quotes from this episode:

“We’re talking about pharmacists really getting involved earlier in more clinical decisions in collaborative practice with these teams to make decisions about which drugs are the most appropriate, most effective, safe, and what patients can financially afford and agree to be adherent to.”

Dr. Terry McInnis

“I think comprehensive medication management is one of those sweet spots. I think having that in place allows for better conversations and gets us away somewhat from this formulary hamster wheel, I’ll call it and rebate hamster wheel that we’ve been on.”

Dr. Terry McInnis