PBMI Honors Six Organizations with Excellence Awar

PLANO, Texas, March 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) will award six organizations with their 2017 Excellence Award today at their 22 ^nd Annual Drug Benefit Conference in Orlando, Florida.  Each organization is recognized for exceptional programs and strategies contributing to cost containment, care management, and quality improvement for the drug benefit.

“We are thrilled to be able to recognize six organizations for their excellence in managing the drug benefit,” says Jane Lutz, Executive Director of PBMI.  “Our 2017 award winners have delivered high quality results by designing solutions to address numerous challenges in prescription drug programs.”

The winners for each category are:

Cost Containment

Cigna Pharmacy Management (Cigna) is recognized for strategic efforts to change the reimbursement model with drug manufacturers from volume to value through the use of outcomes-based contracts, which link financial terms to measured improvements in customers’ health.  Cigna is measuring real world data across pharmacy and medical benefits to hold drug manufacturers accountable for expected health outcomes from medications, and is using these insights to inform future affordability strategies.

MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. is recognized for their High-Cost Generics Program which uses pharmacists to review generics with a monthly cost of greater than $60, and where clinically appropriate, find alternative drugs that are equal or better in terms of efficacy, side-effect profile, and cost. Plan sponsors who implement this program save from $1.42 to $3.87 per member per month (PMPM) while also driving better healthcare consumer behaviors cost-sharing differentials, educational communications, and point-of-sale messaging.

Care Management Strategies

Anthem, Inc. is recognized for their Opioid Overutilization Management Program, which addresses the issue of potential opioid overuse.  This program serves members at possible risk of overuse through a pharmacist-driven case management program and has reduced the number of opioid claims by half for these at risk members.

HealthPartners is recognized for its Hepatitis C Program which uses a team of Pharmacy Navigators and Medication Therapy Management (MTM) pharmacists to support members being treated for hepatitis C manage their existing conditions and adhere to medications. The personalized approach by this program has led to a 98% hepatitis C therapy completion rate and nearly all participants achieving a viral cure.

Quality Improvement

Alignment Healthcare is recognized for its efforts to significantly improve medication adherence rates among seniors being treated for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. Using both sophisticated data analytics and concierge-level clinical support, this program has helped reduce costs and improve outcomes for Medicare Advantage populations.

Indellient is recognized for their member communication software solution called Blue Relay. This program helped a large pharmacy benefit manager simplify document approval processes, create automated workflows, and reduce review cycle time, while improving the quality and compliance of member benefit communications.

About PBMI The Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute is dedicated to unraveling the complexities of pharmacy benefit management by providing research, continuing education, and Web resources that help organizations work effectively with their pharmacy benefit managers to improve the overall management of drug benefit programs. Learn more at www.pbmi.com .

Contact Julie Blackman PBMI jblackman@pbmi.com