United Physicians Partnering With Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan For Pilot Pharmacy Program
BINGHAM FARMS, Mich., Sept. 15 -- United Physicians, an organization of physicians on staff at William Beaumont Hospital, is partnering with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) in a pilot pharmacy program. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of prescribing practices among primary care physicians and reduce pharmacy costs. In addition to BCBSM, the program is supported by Ford Motor Company.
BCBSM will evaluate the prescribing practices of United Physicians' primary care physicians using prescription drug claims data. United Physicians' medical director and nurse liaison will work with BCBSM to create a work plan for physicians based on the prescription drug claims data. A BCBSM clinical pharmacist has also been assigned to meet with individual physicians to discuss prescribing profiles, identify opportunities for improvement and provide education regarding prescribing options within classes and categories of drugs.
According to Steve Marciniak, R. Ph., who manages the program for BCBSM, this approach has been successful with other physician groups. "We have a team of clinical pharmacists that provide physicians with objective information about pharmacy benefits and changes in the marketplace, such as the availability of new generics," said Marciniak. "This information, coupled with the physician's clinical judgement, can and has resulted in more cost- effective prescribing."
"We believe this is an excellent opportunity for physicians to demonstrate how well we can manage drug costs without sacrificing quality patient care," said Harry L. Doerr, M.D., medical director for United Physicians. "In this time of rising health care costs, it is imperative that we show that doctors can do this without governmental control or regulation of prices. All it takes is a little effort and knowledge."
John Wright, M.D., pharmacy benefit manager at Ford, agrees. "Ford Motor Company supports quality health care practices that maximize value. We are delighted to join with United Physicians and BCBSM in this important project."
About United Physicians, P.C. www.unitedphysiciansgroup.com
United Physicians is the organization of physicians on staff at William Beaumont Hospital. The physician organization advocates for its shareholders by negotiating and facilitating participation in risk and non-risk health care plans. United Physicians believes that physicians are the key to improving the quality and economic viability of the health care industry. United Physicians serves the professional and economic interests of its shareholders by providing services that enable physicians to focus attention on the performance of high quality medicine in a cost-effective fashion. United Physicians and its wholly owned subsidiary, Premier Physicians Network, negotiate contracts with health plans. United Physicians also facilitates credentialing with payers, assists in practice management, optimizes resource utilization of provider services, and looks for opportunities that merge service with financial benefit.
United Physicians is certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for Credentialing and Recredentialing for the period December 10, 2002 through December 10, 2004. NCQA is an independent, non- profit organization that certifies physician organizations, and accredits managed care organizations and preferred provider organizations. NCQA surveys are rigorous on and off-site evaluations conducted by a team of physicians and managed care experts. A national oversight committee of physicians analyzes the team's findings and determines certification based on the PO's performance compared to NCQA standards.
About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit corporation, provides health care benefits to 4.8 million members through a variety of plans: Traditional, Blue Preferred and Community Blue PPOs, Blue Choice Point of Service, and the Blue Care Network HMO. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit www.bcbsm.com .