VCU Health is doubling down on its pharmacy strategy and mail-order medication services, according to Michael Roussos, president of VCU Medical Center.
After labor costs, pharmacy is the second or third most expensive service line for health systems across the nation because of rising drug costs, Mr. Roussos said, which is spurring VCU Health's efforts into growing its pharmacy footprint and expanding access to its mail-order pharmacy.
"In the past, lots of pharmacy services have been: order gets put in, the pharmacy checks the order and provides the medication," he said. "But now, we're getting into much more innovative times where we can expand the services of our pharmacy programs."
The Richmond, Va.-based system records about 44,000 inpatient discharges and 1.2 million ambulatory visits every year. Mr. Roussos said the system is committed to improving patient access to mail-order medications, especially among rural populations near its Community Memorial Hospital in South Hill, Va., and its Tappahannock (Va.) Hospital.
These new efforts — and more than 300 pharmacy workers — will be led by the system's first chief pharmacy officer, Matthew Jenkins, PharmD, who joined the system Sept. 18.
Dr. Jenkins told Becker's he is focused on medication safety, access and furthering the adoption of Epic, the system's standardized EHR system that was implemented about a year and a half ago.
"I think positioning our services so that we can be part of that continuum of care and health outcomes for our patients is going to be absolutely critical," Dr. Jenkins said. "Specialty mail order, ambulatory, retail and meds-to-beds are going to be big players in how we can put medications in the hands of our community and provide the best care possible."