Unique Educational Partnership Results in Second Year of Shared Revenues

The Iowa Clinic (TIC) recently presented the Drake University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences with a $75,000 check. The payment is the result of shared revenues that has led to improved patient care and increased savings to patients and the health care system. This unique collaboration between the two entities is an example of the increasing shift towards innovative value- and quality-based reimbursement models that is becoming more prevalent in health care.

The clinical informatics consulting partnership places Michael Daly, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, in TIC’s Internal Medicine Clinic in West Des Moines, Iowa.  Dr. Daly works closely with TIC’s data analytics personnel from TIC to analyze queries of large datasets. From that analysis, he is able to determine the most effective interventions which not only improve quality of care, but also reduce medication-related costs. Dr. Daly and his fourth-year clinical rotation pharmacy students have focused their efforts in the areas of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. Along with Dr. Christi Taylor, Chief Quality Officer of The Iowa Clinic, Dr. Daly and his students routinely meet with internal medicine, family medicine and various specialty providers, educating them on cost effective prescribing practices. “I think this P4 clinic rotation has shown students how informatics can shape and influence value-based healthcare,” said Dr. Daly. “The students assist with the analysis as well as presenting information to the providers in a professional and impactful manner.”

Drake entered the agreement with TIC in January 2016 under a risk-sharing component. While this meant that Drake would share in the benefits of increased reimbursements that TIC may receive, it also meant Drake would share some of the costs if reimbursements did not achieve certain benchmarks. Those benchmarks were exceeded as Dr. Daly and the pharmacy informatics team saved over $1.2 million of actual and projected medication-related expenses through the first three (3) years of the collaboration between TIC and Drake.   “Our collaboration with Dr. Daly and the Drake pharmacy students has been a valuable addition to the high quality, low cost care we provide our patients” noted Mark Reece, Interim CEO of The Iowa Clinic. “Their work provides great benefit to both patients and providers, and we believe this partnership will continue to produce good results.”

“We appreciate TIC’s foresight in understanding the value that a pharmacist can provide in clinical informatics, as well as Dr. Daly’s implementation of those services while providing a high quality education for our students,” said Renae Chesnut, dean of the college. “This new model of collaboration benefits all stakeholders, and we look forward to the future impact that partnerships like this will have on patient care.”