Hospices may benefit in varying degrees from all types of pharmacy service options, however, no other option provides the comprehensive risk-assessment, medication management recommendations, outcomes documentation, and monitoring for each patient that HP includes in its per diem.

Further, changes in Medicare’s Conditions of Participation for Hospices (COPs), including the requirement for collection and reporting of QA/PI data, will mandate that hospices seek the types of service that HP has been providing to hospice partners for years.

Pharmacy service options for hospices that do not partner with HP include the use of one or multiple local pharmacies and PBMs.

The use of local pharmacies prevents standardization and consistency, and often does not meet nurse/patient consultation needs regarding symptom management. Availability for one-on-one consultation, especially after-hours, can be unreliable at some pharmacies—especially with the current focus on helping ‘walk-in’ patients with their Medicare Part D prescriptions. Also, the pharmacist shortage in the US does not guarantee that a local pharmacy will employ a pharmacist with both experience and expertise to appropriately manage your patients’ unique needs.

Multiple Prescription Benefits Management companies (PBMs) have entered the hospice arena offering various price promises. These companies do not offer a per diem, rather they use drug claims and unearthed patient days data to calculate their price offerings. Access using local pharmacies is the typical model. Reporting is available but is limited to claims data, such as brand versus generic reports. These organizations also do not provide nurses with a pharmacist with both experience and expertise to appropriately manage your patients’ unique needs.