When it comes to affordably delivering the right care at the right time, data and analytics give superpowers to healthcare professionals. Data-driven precision medicine can empower clinicians and healthcare executives to achieve greater success in today's increasingly value-based world.
On Nov. 18, panelists discussed precision medicine, testing and prescribing during the second day of the Precision Health Virtual Summit hosted by hc1 and Becker's Healthcare.
Presenters were:
- Atul Butte, MD, PhD, chief data scientist at University of California Health System and the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg distinguished professor of pediatrics, bioengineering and therapeutic sciences, and epidemiology and biostatistics, at UCSF in San Francisco
- Dave Dexter, CEO of Tempe, Ariz.-based Sonora Quest Laboratories
- Brad Bostic, founder, chairman and CEO of hc1
- Rick Christiansen, vice president, value-based care of hc1
- Jessica Saba, PharmD, director, value-based and population health pharmacy of Highmark
- Stuart Beatty, PharmD, director of strategy and practice transformation at Ohio Pharmacy Association, founder of Strategic Pharmacy Initiatives and associate professor of clinical pharmacy at The Ohio State University in Columbus
- Jim Gartner, executive vice president, clinical strategy of AssureCare
- Laura K. Mark, PharmD, vice president of pharmacy at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh
- Susan Wescott, senior director, pharmacy, managed care of Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and executive lead, clinical services of Alluma
Four insights from the second day of the summit:
1. Value-based care and precision medicine rely on robust technology and data access. Leading healthcare organizations understand that technologies like artificial intelligence, digital pathology and robotic process automation are critical for value-based care and precision medicine. Interconnection of data is also essential. "Data really is king. You need free-flowing information and teams must understand how to build usable dashboards with that data that make a difference in patient outcomes," said Mr. Dexter.
The University of California Health System came to the same realization as it began to build a single accountable care organization. "The moment we made this business decision, we needed to pull data together to understand the right way to practice medicine," explained Dr. Butte. All six academic health systems now use Epic, and data flows into a central data warehouse. This repository supports a range of precision medicine activities, such as sharing cancer genome sequences, creating a Type 2 diabetes dashboard across the entire University of California Health System population, geolocating services based on social determinants of health and analyzing data for drug standardization and comparative drug effectiveness studies.
2. Analytics are the key to precision testing and prescribing. Delivering precision health to populations at scale requires the right testing, then acting based on the results. To make this happen, Sonora Quest has worked extensively with hc1 to improve the efficiency and productivity of data analytics. "The real game changer will be a groundbreaking pharmacogenomics pilot that we are starting with hc1," said Mr. Dexter. Sonora Quest, Phoenix-based Banner Health and hc1 will conduct pharmacogenomics testing on patients perceived to be at significant risk of taking the wrong medications.
3. Pharmacists are moving from underutilized resources to critical members of the provider team. Many health systems are re-examining the role of pharmacists in light of the primary care physician shortage, as well as new precision medicines that interact with genomics. "Our partners don't always know the value of the pharmacist hidden in their organizations. When you give pharmacists a seat at the table, we see the broader health system outcomes that we're looking for," said Dr. Saba. To incent pharmacists to participate in care teams, Ohio has granted pharmacists provider status. This enables pharmacists to be reimbursed for patient care like other healthcare professionals. Looking ahead, payers nationwide may reimburse pharmacists through direct payments and value-based reimbursement programs.
4. Pharmacy can play an important role in reducing the total cost of care. As leading organizations shift to value-based care, they are asking the pharmacy team to help lower costs. This requires a multipronged approach, including formularies, data access and engaging patients at the front line of care. "I don't always pick the cheapest med, but I pick the best med for the patient. In the long run, if patients are on the right medications and they are adherent, we see the overall cost of care decrease because they don't end up in the hospital," explained Dr. Beatty.
To view the full sessions from Day 2 of the Precision Health Virtual Summit on-demand, click here. To learn more about hc1, click here.