Financial Sustainability of an Oregon Rural Health, Primary Care, and Pharmacist-Run Comprehensive Medication Management Program Through Direct Medical Billing

BACKGROUND: Although several states recognize pharmacists as providers and allow credentialing, this practice is not recognized nationwide. Following adoption of Oregon House Bill 2028, pharmacists are recognized as providers, allowing “health insurers to provide payment or reimbursement for their services to patients.” Before this law, and in several instances currently, pharmacist-run programs were financially justified through soft dollars saved by improving patient outcomes, reducing emergency department use, and decreasing readmission rates. OBJECTIVE: To determine if direct billing of third-party payers covers the direct cost of a comprehensive medication management (CMM) program in an ambulatory rural health adult population with uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension. METHODS: This study of a population derived from 2 Oregon rural health primary care clinics was a retrospective chart review of adults (aged ≥18 years) with a primary diagnosis of diabetes mellitus or hypertension who completed a CMM visit with a clinical pharmacist from March 2017 to June 2018. In determining the financial sustainability of a pharmacist-run CMM program, the following primary outcomes were evaluated: (a) percentage of visits completed per insurance type; (b) median reimbursement rate (dollars per visit) per insurance type; and (c) the estimated number of visits per day to cover 100% of the total CMM cost annually. The secondary outcome was the percentage of the major third-party payers that allowed credentialing of pharmacists. All outcomes were evaluated using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: 664 CMM visits were included. Visits per insurance type comprised Medicare Advantage (34%), traditional Medicare (25%), Oregon State Medicaid (20.9%), commercial (17.8%), and self-pay (cash; 1.4%). Median reimbursement rate (dollars per visit) was highest from Oregon Medicaid, followed by Medicare Advantage, and lowest among commercial, self-pay (cash), and traditional Medicare. Total reimbursement received throughout the duration of this pilot project covered 14.1% of the total CMM program cost. It was estimated that approximately 17 visits per day are needed to cover 100% of the total CMM cost annually per pharmacist relying solely on direct revenue within these clinics. Currently, of the 18 contracted insurance companies, only 50% recognize and allow credentialing of pharmacists as providers. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacist-run services within the 2 rural health primary care clinics were not financially justifiable via direct billing of third-party payers alone. The lack of credentialing, recognition of pharmacists as providers, and reimbursement is inadequate for program expansion and sustainability without relying on additional revenue streams or benefits from improved patient outcomes. Currently, federal insurance significantly contributes to this lack of funding.